Tuesday, May 11, 2010

A change in pantry ponderings for awhile

You know me.  I am always looking out for TEOTWAWKI (The End of the World as We Know It).  Been that way for decades now.  It probably goes back to growing up in the cold war era.  Although I'm not old enough to have gone through those silly practices school children were told to do in case of nuclear attack... hide under their desks.

I did grow up with that "looking over my shoulder" syndrome.  I highly suspect little Russian children did the same thing, only their nightmares had a rather red, white, and blue hue to them.  The Cuban Missile Crisis had such an affect, I can remember to this day the nightmare I had during that time (and I was a rather young child!).

I also grew up with a mother who had been raised on the farm and believed in a very, very deep pantry.  As did my mother-in-law.  Both also having lived through the Great Depression (both of our mothers were older when we were born).

Anyhoo, all that to give some explanation of my obsession passion for deepening the pantry.  It has to be those reasons, or some type of mental or emotional defect... or all of the above.  :)

We live in a dangerous world and if one just opens their eyes and really pays attention, we see all kinds of reasons to stock the pantry as deeply as we can.  The most common reason these days is job loss but one never knows when we will need to use the pantry. 

I have mentioned my friend in New Mexico whose grocery store shelves were empty for weeks due to grocery trucks being diverted to the Katrina disaster.  If nothing else, the prices are going up (a lot) and many of us have noticed grocery stores are not stocking as they once did.

Some of us (like my family) can't afford to stock up very much, anymore.  Others can do what we once did and try to have a few months of our most important items put back... rotating them for freshness.

Since I've been preaching the pantry gospel for years and years now, since I have provided lots of good links for further information on the sidebar, and since I finally have room for pictures again (perhaps a back up memory card should be a priority for when my son borrows the camera)... I've decided to do something new.

I'm going to start a new series called  Pantry Pic(k)s... actual photos of items I find important to keep on the shelves.  These will be the items (food and nonfood) I make a priority when I have a little extra money.  I thought it might prove interesting to you, at least more so than another long pondering about pantries.  Although I can't promise I won't become rather prolific in words on some posts.

I'll be working on it soon, perhaps having time this evening.  I must admit to moving a little slow right now.  Yesterday was my three month doctor's check up and he put me back on antibiotics.  This time due to a deep scratch I received in the garden last week which looks like it has become infected.... sigh.  At least it was perfect timing and didn't cost me an additional doctor's appointment!  :)

15 comments:

Kaylee said...

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Kimberly said...

Just sitting down for a moment in the midst of packing. This week--I am NOT glad to have a deep pantry!!!! Packing it all up has been a major pain! :) This comment is just for you, Brenda, don't feel the need to publish it especially as I wouldn't want to discourage any one. Seriously===all the stuff we haven't eaten that I canned, hundreds of pounds of grains, general extra supplies,---I am going nuts!!! Where to store it all while we wait to figure out where we are going??? So wishing God would see fit to let me see the end of this. Much love to you!

Unknown said...

That sounds like an interesting idea. I'll be looking forward to seeing what you feature. I've been spending way too much money on food and can't really afford to do that, so I'm cutting back on stocking up, but it has come in handy more than once to have extra food. I just have to be a more savy shopper and more select in what I choose. I appreciate all that you have to share about your life and experiences. Linda

Little Penpen said...

oooh... I am looking forward to these posts... love pantry posts!

Anonymous said...

So sorry about your wound, the antibiotics, etc. It is so difficult to be in such situations!! (Have you heard about putting honey on wounds to heal them? Just a thought...)

Will look forward to your pantry ideas, for sure...we feel the need too...but we are not even sure where we should be living even...we are renting here. Times are so unsettled (and we know of others feeling just as you and we do). We know changes are coming, difficult times...much prayer needed to know what to do in any part of our situation!!
Blessings, Elizabeth

Susan Humeston said...

Perhaps - I'm no nurse or Dr. - soaking the scratched area in hot water with Boric Acid in it (I think 1 tspn/cup of hot water - as hot as you can stand it) might help. This is what my mom always had me do with styes as a child. I was always getting them and we didn't go to the Dr. for them. My mom just fixed the Boric Acid and hot water and I had to sit and soak my eye with water as hot as I could stand until the thing came to a head and it then went away. I've done this with infected scratches, too - it can't hurt. It may help the infection to come out. I also use tons of antibiotic ointment, but we didn't have that as children either. We used Mercurochrome, Iodine and Merthiolate - I think Iodine is the only one available now and it never worked as well as the other 2.

Tracy said...

Brenda, I always enjoy your pantry posts and your thoughts on the matter. :)

Deanna Rabe - Creekside Cottage Blog said...

I think these posts will be wonderful. I try to stock up as well, when able. We also are doing a garden this year.

Anonymous said...

In our area we have so many dfferent grocery stores. You can select the best prices since they compete. We shop the dint can store as we call it mostly though. We have alternative sorces for veggies and such too..like some of the 99c stores and others. We are so used to shopping just for dint cans and the lost leaders. Today I actually walked through the can good isles and such and my eyes bugged out looking at the prices.!!!!! It made me even more grateful for the dint can store and other bargain sites around here...and our large garden and jars of canned goods we did. I think we off and on need to look at the prices most people have to pay for new clothing etc to really again see what a blessing we have to not have to spend so much!! Yes even the dint can stores are going up but not as much as I saw today in the store!! We read all we can on ways to eat nutritionally yet keep the costs down. One thing I have noted too is most stores have less of everything...less types of beans or herbs or such. They have cut back and now there is less to choose from I've noticed. Used to have the cheap little bags of spices but our stores have cut them out too. Even less store brands. Things are changing. We keep as big a pantry as we can. Sarah

Anonymous said...

Looking forward to your pantry posts.I try to stock up for the school summer holidays when there is no work.
We find that the most painless way to stock up is to buy a few extra cans whenever there is a good sale. Also it's important to be realistic when buying. El Cheapo brand is no bargain if the family won't eat it. Ditto for Earnest Budget Recipes.
I also buy enough inhalers to last the summer as they are expensive.

Linda said...

I'm sorry about the infection, and very happy for you that you were there to get something for it. Yay!

denise said...

Ha! I thought that we were about the same age, but alas, you missed out on the 'duck and cover' drills. Pity! Praying for a speedy recovery for you and looking forward to your pantry posts.

tpals said...

I'm another who loves your pantry posts. I just read 'The Long Winter' and it reinforced my desire to continue deepening the pantry...even though it is May and the longest I ever was snowed in was for two weeks. :)

Anonymous said...

Ah yes..the hide under our desk or line up around the padded gymnasium walls crouched with your head down and your hands over the back of your neck 'for protection'. We sure were naive weren't we. :) I sometimes wonder what our parents thought while we were doing this. I never did ask my parents..they had to know this would not work. I guess nothing would have worked so best we children did not learn the true facts from some newscast like they probably would if it happened today. We felt safer and less scard at least. Anna

Anonymous said...

Poor Kimberly did not get a chance to use down her pantry stock. I have heard of others who had more time and used it up so they did not have to move it and then started gathering supplies in again at the new house. Isen't Kimberly just the best though! Love her blog too. Will be praying for her situation with the move etc.