Living the Pantry Lifestyle: That feeling to stock up is growing...

Thank you to Stephanie for writing last weekend, in the midst of an already busy schedule.  She has learned to manage meal times so well since choosing a basic amount of menus and micro freezing.  I am inspired to do more of the same!

I have been using a micro freezing technique to prep garden goodies as they are harvested.  For instance, I roasted six or seven eggplants in the oven all at once yesterday, took out what I needed for the baba ganoush I was making and then divided the rest into quart sized freezer bags.

There are also two gallon size Ziploc bags in the freezer each full of about eight or nine quart size bags filled with sliced green, red, and yellow peppers.  I don't do anything to them but wash and dry them, then slice them and flash freeze on a large baking pan so they don't stick together in the bags.

It probably took no longer than ten minutes at any one time to prepare and fill the quart size bags and I'll have peppers all winter.  I am so thankful that a little at a time prepping is adding up to good things for the freezer.

So now about the "feelings" about stocking up...

I get many e-mails from people who have "this feeling" they should be stocking up as much as they can, not out of fear but a Joseph style stocking up.  I've mentioned before that we lived out of our pantry for a long time during unemployment about thirteen years ago, which helped me learn what items were priorities and what we would not eat if we were starving... maybe.

I was recently skimming a book about hospitality a friend gave me*, which turned out to be one I had read already and I had found good enough to re-read.  In it one of the authors shares a conversation she had when visiting a family in Europe.

They showed the author their pantry and then the area where their mother had stored various items like beans, rice, and other grains before WWII started.  There had been no indication that the war was starting but this little lady had kept hearing from God with that nudge to "stock up" because they would need it later.

As it turned out, there was little warning when the Germans took over their country and she saved the lives of her neighbors by sharing food.  Her daughter said it seemed miraculous at times how it stretched, much like the "loaves and fishes".

Now, this book was written years ago and the author said she found it interesting that in her travels she met American women who felt that same "nudge of God'.  I don't know about you but that gave me goosebumps!

Of course, we deepen our pantry as we can given space and funds available (in so many of our lives that means a small pantry and a little at a time) and then... we fully depend on God for the rest and "fear not".  Some may not feel a need to deepen their pantry at all while others have a desire to deepen it "as much as possible".

I have learned to take small steps and depend on Him for the rest...

Links

As usual, these are links to articles I found interesting.  Some may be on sites that promote storing weapons.  That doesn't bother me but some find it offensive so I'm just warning ya'....

Emergency Preparedness on the Getting Organized Magazine site - here.  I thought this was a great general preparedness article.  The author lives in California where she tries to be prepared for an earthquake.
Must Have Items for Every Survival Pantry - here.
25 More Preparedness Tips - here.
Crazy Simple Strategies for Building an Emergency Food Supply - here.

*A House of Many Blessings by Quin Sherrer & Laura Watson