Living the Pantry Lifestyle - Ponderings on the weather, higher prices, and lower prices, and other stuff

 

I'm a little late getting this published today and I wasn't able to do as much research as I had planned.  The "Fall" allergies hit early and with a vengeance a couple weeks ago and I have been feeling unwell since then.  I think the worst thing is coughing all night so I wake up tired the next day.

My husband and children have seasonal allergies they have had to deal with for years but I didn't until about five or six years ago.  My doctor says it is not at all unusual for us "as we get older" to develop such allergies.  Thankfully, they are just seasonal.

Earlier this week, our senior meteorologist went live on the local TV channel to keep the public informed on a dangerous weather event.  This time, it wasn't a tornado, but a derecho heading our way.  The derecho was extremely fast moving but enough warning was given that I could get the front porch ready.  The deck was pretty much wind proof already but my husband moved a few items to make it safer.  

Thankfully, the area immediately around our house didn't have any damage.  We've had more large branches fall in a thunderstorm. There was a lot of damage in other areas, including Chicago.  While crops were flattened in the entire Midwest, the worst of the damage we are hearing about now was in Iowa where entire farms were destroyed and one-third of the corn and soybean crops were damaged or ruined.

Once again, it is a reminder that the food supply is subject to nature.  With drought and floods in part of the country, we now can add a wind event that is actually rare.  I can only recall a couple others derecho warnings besides the one earlier in the week.  

I did watch a few YouTube videos this week, including one by a woman who was showing her extensive food storage.  There were three different areas including one in her kitchen, another in a separate space in the house built as an extra pantry, and a third area in her garage where they stored food cans of long term storage food.

She made the point that the extensive stock up was mostly accomplished a little at a time over a period of years.  It is quite amazing how much she had accomplished.  She obviously had to become very organized to keep everything rotated.  She had a lot of processed foods and that would not work with our diets but otherwise, I took a few notes.  One can always learn something new!

I started doing a monthly stock up shopping trip for most of our basic food and supplies at the beginning of each month when my husband had to go on Disability in his 50s.  That made it easier... and still does... to make certain the basics are purchased while the money budgeted for them is available.

After that, I shopped once a week or so for fresh vegetables and to check on sales.  During the period of self-isolation, my husband and I each took two different stores to shop.  Now it is back to normal with the exception of everyone wearing masks.  I learned from The Weather Channel to take the hand sanitizer back in the house with me on hot days since the alcohol can evaporate with heat in a car and leave it less effective.

As long as I have time when I'm shopping for fresh vegetables, I take the opportunity to check the aisles at each store (varying between Meijer, Kroger, and Aldi) to see if there are any shortages.  Although there are some items that I have not seen return on the shelves, usually it has been that they will have certain items one week and then the next it will be another item missing.

The last time I was at Meijer, the entire aisle of paper towels was empty.  Not a brand to be found.  Which made me add paper towels to my stock up grocery list, even though I have a few rolls left.  Earlier there was not much toilet paper to be found and none in my favorite brand. 

Okay, I know that is a third world problem but there is a brand I prefer!  The next time I was at Kroger, I saw they had it in stock and I bought a large package even though the price had raised.  Then when it was back in stock at Meijer, it was nearly $3.00 more expensive that Kroger!  

Prices haven't raised on everything but on enough items that I've noticed my grocery bill higher than it used to be.  Not to mention this whole "the country is short on coins so cash is not accepted" on the Meijer express lines.  

This week, I went to Kroger for fresh veggies and I always check their baking aisle while there.  I didn't see any shortages this week and when I walked past the meat section, I noticed signs up that their chuck roast and round roast were on sale.  Hallelujah!  I haven't seen them on sale since before the pandemic.

I have been purchasing stew meat already cubed at Aldi the past few months since that was the best price for the beef I use in soups and stews.  It has gone into the deep freeze until I need it in cooler weather.  At Kroger, I was able to purchase one small-ish round roast and one chuck roast, both at an excellent price.  They are now ready for the deep freeze, too.

While the allergies have left me sniffling, coughing (all night), and my eyes are sensitive to screen light... I have finished a couple pantry projects.  I'm still tweaking the pantry shelves, this time getting ready for a change of seasons.  I'm making certain I have the items I would need to make some favorite cooler weather dinners like soups, stews, and chili.  

I checked and I have enough canned tomatoes since I didn't use many cans over the summer but I definitely need some other items used for homemade soups and stews.  I also need to order some more of the freezer containers I use to "put back" extra chili, chicken stock, etc.  They were unavailable from Amazon for months.

So that is what is going on now.  I hope this rambling blog post is understandable.  I'm trying to write with cough drops and tissues at my side.  Honestly, I'm not complaining... well, much... because given everything else in the world, a seasonal allergy is not all that hard to deal with!

Mentioned in this Blog Post

Freezable Deli Food Containers 32 oz. ... here.  (They have a couple other sizes, this is just the size that works best for us.  I have reused these many times with no problem.)

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Note:  Sorry for wonky spacing but this new Blogger post editing has a few "issues".