What Foods Should Be In Your Pantry

A little snow fell last night

As I was making my list this morning of the supplies I am getting low on, I realized that many people still do not prepare. They think they have time. Or they think nothing is going to happen. Well, it doesn't have to be the collapse of our country to be an emergency. It could be many different things, that would necessitate you not being able to leave your home for some reason. And possibly not having any electricity either. Try living for a week-end with your power turned off and see how you do. Plan it so that you, or anyone in your family, cannot leave your home during this test period. How do you think you will do?

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Make meals from the foods you have stored. Now we will take a look at your food. I am not talking about your garden produce here. What are you missing? What don't you care for? Do not store foods you or your family members will not eat. Almost everyone I know stores rice and beans. We never eat rice and beans. I think it would get pretty depressing if we stored them, and had to eat them in an emergency. I like to make a bean soup, or baked beans, occasionally. Now when I am writing this, I realize there are some rice dishes we like, but I haven't made them in a long, long time. Rice pudding is one. Who doesn't love homemade rice pudding? Stir fry on top of a plate of rice is another. So I will put rice back on the list. Just not a lot of it.

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Flour is one of the main foods that needs to be stocked. You can make an awful lot of food with that. Make sure you have some basic baking ingredients. Along with the flour, salt, baking soda and powder, powdered milk, yeast, oil, some vanilla extract and spices. Yes, you can make cookies, biscuits, cakes, pies, breads on a campfire or wood stove! Give the family some treats. That will help them to not whine so much. Or you can stock up on wheat berries and grind your own as you need it. That is really the best way to cook with flour.

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Salt can be used for many things. Besides being needed in many baking recipes, it can also be used to preserve food. I suggest loading up on some, as you can store it forever.There has been talk of banning it in restaurants. Quite frankly, that worries me that eventually, it won't be available for the home either. I mean why do they pick on the restaurants, who are making recipes that need salt? When the food manufacturers load up processed foods with MSG and too much salt. Not to mention the other ingredients they stick in there. Next will it be sugar? Bacon? Or whatever they decide isn't good for us?

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All of these ingredients are interchangeable, and will make other foods besides baked goods. It is possible to do all your cooking and baking right on an open fire, or even on a grill. So make sure you have other ways of cooking prepared for, if you cannot use your kitchen range. Take a look at your family's routine foods and try to build your supply from that. It is perfectly okay to have some store bought foods. I would go more for canned foods, than foods in boxes, because they will last longer. Once you build your supply up, use it in your every day meals. Believe me, you will be glad you did! 

Copyright © 2012 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2012  Kathleen G. Lupole

*Unless stated otherwise on photo

Home Processing Your Food, Your Way

Empty jars build up if you don't do more canning!

Canning jars are building up. I mean empty jars, not full ones. I know this is a sign that I am behind on refilling them. As you use your canned foods, keep a box or cupboard for the empty jars. Make sure you have a separate area for each type of jar. Then when you are in hurry to can, you know where the jars are that you need.

Canning Equipment

It is a like a circle, can the food, eat the food, then refill the empty jars by canning more foods. Instead of filling your pantry or cupboard with store bought canned foods, they are your home canned foods. Make your own dry mixes of food you normally buy in the store. Such as pudding mixes, baking mixes, cake mixes, cream soup mix and hot coco mix. They are easy to mix up and store in your pantry until you need them. Cheaper and you can adjust them to fit your taste. Not some manufacturer.

Can your own pumpkin for pie!

For example, a can of blueberry pie filling at Walmart, their brand, which is the cheapest, is over $3.00 and does not fill the pie crust. Now if you either grow your own blueberries or go to a pick your own place and make your own blueberry pie filling when they are in season, you will have plenty of really tasty pie filling. You may also buy fresh or frozen berries in the stores or at farmer's markets, but that will cost more. At least they will taste better though! Same with apple or pumpkin pie filling or any kind you like.

Lynn at Viggies Veggies is my friend on Facebook, and she has been canning up a storm this year. Be sure to check out her blog, and see why I think she is a shining example for a homesteading woman. Not only is she single, but she is an "urban homesteader". This shows what can be done once you make the move to get serious. Proves my notion that you can do it anywhere!

Copyright © 2012 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2012  Kathleen G. Lupole

Listing Ingredients For Stocking Up Pantry Plan

Low Carb Zucchini Lasagna

Since I started eating low carb foods, I have deleted white flour and any product that is made with it. I now use almond meal/flour, flax seed meal, coconut flour, pork rinds, hazelnut meal/flour in place of flour or bread products. If you are making fried chicken or oven fried chicken, you just bread it with any of those. We love a mixture of the flax seed meal and almond meal coating the chicken. My husband loves when I include a little of the coconut flour too.

I also forgo sugar and most artificial sugar substitutes. I like stevia. It has no aftertaste, at least to me. I have heard other people complain that it does, but my husband and I both like it very much. I buy the Sweet Leaf brand in the little packets and also have it in liquid form for cooking. It is hard to mix into cold drinks at first, so I mix it into a little warm liquid if I am using the powdered form. I will use Splenda, but usually only as an ingredient in the DaVinci's sugar free syrups. Those are something that make my low carbing a pleasure!

I do not use margarine as I believe that is something that is REALLY bad for you. I used to love it, but have not used it at all since 2008, except when my husband bought it at the store instead of butter. I mainly use butter, olive oil and coconut oil. Occasionally, I use peanut and sesame oils for flavor.

For beverages, I am a coffee and tea drinker mainly. We drink a lot of water around here. And I also buy seltzer in a couple different flavors. Natural flavor only, lime being my favorite and plain for my special low carb egg creams I make.

Blackberries are a low carb fruit!

Meat, salad, low carb vegetables, eggs, cheese, berries and cream are the main foods I use. So now that I have figured that out, I can now work on building the ingredient list of foods to stock. My main dish list was here in the post, Planning Your Meals Around Special Diets. Today, I am posting on the main dishes only. 

Cheddar Cheese is always available for low carbers

My Main Dish List:

1. Chicken Thighs with Hot Wing Sauce
2. Steak (or low carb stir fries)
3. Pork Country Ribs
4. Roast Turkey Breast
5. Beanless Chili
6. Tuna Salad 
7. Oven Fried Chicken (almond flour/golden flax seed coated)
8. Pork Chops or Roast
9. Beef Stew (do not eat high carb vegs) (thicken with low carb alternatives)
10. Turkey Salad
11. Baked or Grilled Fish Fillets
12. Ground Beef Dishes (low carb meatballs, meatloaf, hamburgers, casseroles)
13. Chicken or Turkey Stew
14. Zucchini Lasagna (no pasta noodles)

Look at your recipes for each dish and list the ingredients you need. It is that simple. Those are the foods you need to stock. I figure 14 meals mean I can serve these twice a month. Maybe one or two will be once a month and two or three others will be three times or more a month. Make it suit you and your family.

My Ingredient List: (example)

chicken thighs

garlic powder

tarragon

hot sauce

celery seed

white vinegar

butter

blue cheese dressing

If you are freezing your meats and various foods than that is basically all you have to do. Get the food divided up into your meals and clearly mark on them what they are and the date. You may want to add what they are for...........if you are anything like me, sometimes I forget what I bought something for and will use it for something else. You and keep a list or a calendar of what you will be serving each day and that does make it easier.

Canned ground beef and chicken

Now I can my foods usually. So my meats I bring home and prepare them to be canned. If I want the chili for maybe four meals through out the month, I will make a couple of big pots of it and can that in quart jars. I probably would need 2-3 quarts for each meal, so I need to make at least 12 quarts for the month. If we don't use it all up, good. But I will make more the next month to keep adding to my pantry shelves.

Salad from my garden!

Since we will be eating mainly low carbs, all my meals usually will have a salad as a side dish. Meat and salad. Salad ingredients I will have to buy it fresh in the store during the winter, until I get my sun room completed, a green house built or a cold frame set up. All summer we eat it from our garden.

• So make a list of all your main dishes.
• Study your recipes and list your ingredients.
• From that, make a list to take to the store.
• Need not be done all in one day or one week-end.
• Keep it ongoing. So you eat some meals and you make more.
• It is not set in stone. You can change your recipes or menus anytime.
• Make your meals tasty and inviting!

I like doing this. I like seeing my husband looking forward to meals instead of  wishing he was eating at Burger King! He is one of those men who does not like to go out for meals mainly because he knows I can always make it better. It is a good feeling to know you are feeding your family members good food that they really like, and it is better for them.

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

Planning Your Menus Around Special Diets

Photo Credit: Jon Sullivan

Yesterday, I posted my menu plan for stocking up. When I wrote that plan, I included in my plan the foods that we used to like to eat pretty regular. The problem with that plan, as I studied it last night, is that I now eat low carbs. Low carbs mean no potatoes, pasta, rice, dumplings, anything with white flour, sugar, corn syrup, cornstarch, etc.. And unfortunately, no carrots or beets either, as they are both high carb vegetables. This post will be more a correction of my food list of yesterday. I won't explain low carbing as I have already done that in previous posts.

I follow Dr. Atkins as my low carb diet. I have read all his books and everything he wrote always has proven itself to me to be the truth. He was a doctor who was truly before his time! Since now, there are many other low carb plans to choose from. His works best for me because I just am NOT hungry on it. Even my husband can attest to that fact. On Dr. Atkins' 14 day jumpstart program, known as Induction, if you stick to it, you will lose weight. For me, usually a slow loser, it was pretty quick. But that is not why I follow it. The number one reason I stick with Atkins is that I feel great after I get into my first three days. I admit, the last couple of weeks I have not been following it and I feel lousy. So back on it I go! So this post is going to be a new list with my low carbs. After you have lost whatever weight you want to lose, then you can eat some of those higher carb vegetables such as beans, potaotes, corn, beets.......but in very low amounts and not every day. Maybe once a week. In a previous post I wrote about the low carb plans in this post, Back To Low Carbing.

Photo Credit: Jon Sullivan

So to correct my menu plan to be low carb for both my husband and I, as he will follow it if I prepare it. If it is good, he will eat it! I make sure it is good. You should see my supper dish, full of food! What I need to say here, is that if you follow a certain food plan, just make your list of those foods. Eliminate all the foods that you do not eat. You can compare my list of yesterday with this new list. I needed to do this for myself and my husband and not buy all those high carb foods. In another past post, I wrote about Low Carb Frugal Shopping, so I have dealt with these issues before. I just want to say the low carb food plan is not hard to follow. It is almost always the other people you live with who influence the foods you buy and prepare. So I am going to be influencing my husband to eating low carbs! Now for the menu plan.

My 14 Main Dish Meals:

1. Chicken Thighs with Hot Wing Sauce
2. Steak (or low carb stir fries)
3. Pork Country Ribs
4. Roast Turkey Breast
5. Beanless Chili
6. Tuna Salad 
7. Oven Fried Chicken (almond flour/golden flax seed coated)
8. Pork Chops or Roast
9. Beef Stew (do not eat high carb vegs) (thicken with low carb alternatives)
10. Turkey Salad
11. Baked or Grilled Fish Fillets
12. Ground Beef Dishes (low carb meatballs, meatloaf, hamburgers, casseroles)
13. Chicken or Turkey Stew
14. Zucchini Lasagna (no pasta noodles)

Photo Credit: Jon Sullivan

My Side Dishes:

1. Tossed Salad (Every day...we can not get enough of this!)
2. Cheese (4 oz. daily for low carbs)
3. Asparagus
4. Cauliflower
5. Broccoli
6. Green Beans
7. Mushrooms
8. Onions
9. Spinach
10. Kale
11. Cucumbers
12. Tomatoes
13. Zucchini
14. Yellow Squash
15. Winter Squash
16. Pumpkin (Yep! Low carb for this delightful vegetable!!)
17. Coleslaw (homemade)
18. Cabbage
19. Avocado 
20. Berries
21. Nuts
22. Bell Peppers

Photo Credit: Sam Mugraby

So now, I will work on my ingredient list and work on that for my post next week. I hope this shows you the difference in the post I did yesterday. You make the list centered on what foods you can and cannot eat. My husband will forgo the potatoes and pasta any day in favor of more meat. If you follow a low-fat or a low-calorie diet that is fine, incorporate those dishes into your plan. If someone eats regular high-fat, high calorie, and high carbs and wants to continue that route, include that in your menu plan. You can always change that person's diet by making small changes slowly until they start noticing how much better they feel and look. Good luck with this and I promise I will be back next week with my ingredient list. I will work on that this week-end. Have a happy homesteading day!

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

Menus Help When Stocking Up Your Pantry

Photo Credit: Jon Sullivan

In my quest to prepare I have decided start over. Like I have never done this before. Like I am a "newbie" and starting right now, today. So this is what I want to discuss. How do you tell others how to start in an economy like we are living in presently if you did not do it?

To start, you need to write out your menus. You can do it on your computer or by hand. Whatever is good for you. First off, what is the main dish for your biggest meal daily? Some people eat lunch for their main meal, especially after being retired. What I did was to write out 14 main supper dishes for us. Remember to choose 14 dishes that your family really likes to eat! Not something you want them to eat because it is good for them. Not for this project. My family is my husband and I. He is a particular eater and will not eat many foods that I love and are cheap. So this is a problem I have to work around.

Photo Credit: Jon Sullivan

My 14 Main Dish Meals:

1. Chicken Thighs With Hot Wing Sauce
2. Pork Country Ribs
3. Roast Turkey Breast
4. Chili
5. Tuna Melts
6. Oven Fried Chicken
7. Pork Chops 
8. Beef Stew
9. Turkey Salad
10. Baked Fish Fillets
11. Beef Pot Roast
12. Chicken  & Dumplings
13. Pasta Dish (Lasagna, Spaghetti, Ravioli, etc.)
14. Ground Beef  or Steak Dish (hamburger, meat loaf, meatballs, casserole, stir-fries)

That is the first thing to do. Then you will add the side dishes. Like so,

Side Dishes:

1. Carrots
2. Winter Squash
3. Beets
4. Potatoes
5. Sweet Potatoes
6. Mixed Vegetables
7. Creamed Corn
8. Green Beans
9. Baked Beans
10. Asparagus
11. Cabbage
12. Spinach
13. Kale
14. Potato Salad
15. Macaroni Salad
16. Coleslaw
17. Mushrooms & Onions
18. Tossed Salad
19. Broccoli
20. Cauliflower

My side dishes are a mixture of foods that either we both eat, he won't eat (many!), and what I don't eat due to eating only low carbs. If  my husband changes over to low carbs that'll be great and I will modify my lists. For the time though, this is how I am doing it. You must plan your meals based on your families likes and dislikes. Just because one person doesn't like something, that is no reason not to prepare it. I do and I have always done so.

Next week I will post on how to make the ingredients list. You want to have enough food on hand to prepare your meals. Then when you shop you will be only buying more for the future. That way you can pick up foods and supplies that are on sale. There are a lot of other blogs about doing this from the object of saving money. I am doing it for the object of saving time by going shopping less and always having really great meals. It's nice to have a choice of what's for supper!

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole
Updated 2019