Living the Pantry Lifestyle - Learning from the past to flourish today

I have written before that a dear friend, one of my online friends that became as close as a sister (but we never met in person) used to tell me that God was allowing me to go through great tribulation so I could share with people how to prepare for the Great Tribulation.  We were friends when both of our families went through serious trials and often reminded each other that "God has this".

She passed away a few years ago and I still think of her often, especially in these crazy times we live in today.  She lived a life of preparedness in what she called the Third World Country of the New Mexico desert.  

She taught me about preparing for difficult times with very little money but also she reminded me that being prepared with some extra food and water is necessary for everyday life and not for some future event. I appreciate the lessons learned from her and others through the years that are now important during this time of inflation and shortages.  

Remembering the kind of food my mother prepared for everyday meals reminds me how she learned to fill tummies on a budget.  She was a widow with seven children (her first husband before meeting my dad died in his 30s) for many years before Social Security existed.  She knew poverty such as I have never experienced before she married my father.

She often served bean soup and cornbread when the other children were growing up. It never ceased to amaze and amuse me that my older siblings thought of that meal with great affection.  It was not poor people food to them and it remained a comfort food meal as they grew older.

I remember her often serving stewed tomatoes with macaroni when I lived at home.  It wasn't until I was married and cooking on my own that I realized it was a perfect food for her to make on a budget, especially since she often grew tomatoes in a garden even if she grew nothing else.  Even when she was no longer poor, she continued to cook inexpensive meals at home. 

She often served cooked to death green beans, seasoned with bacon grease that she saved in a metal container on the stove.  I don't remember her serving salads very often and if she did it was a seven layer salad when company was expected.  Her favorite greens were cabbages and they were boiled. Both are still my favorite way to eat green beans or cabbage.

You know that I love to read cookbooks as well as try their recipes and I've noticed how the recipes from long ago are often very simple and made of local and inexpensive ingredients.  Ethnic cookbooks are usually rich in stories and recipes from generations of people who had to cook what was available locally. 

I am fascinated by the cooking of Mexico.  Of course, it differs greatly by region but is similar in the use of local inexpensive ingredients. Their use of whole grain corn for tortillas, beans, tomatoes, squash, and occasionally meat or fish according to the region made for a very healthy diet for generations.

The Middle Eastern countries had simple ingredients but their use of spices made them delicious and we now have access to those same spices, even on a budget today.  One of my favorite things to do in the kitchen is to try a new spice.  When I first started cooking, only a fraction of the spices available today were sold locally.

You may have noticed how expensive it has become to eat out or to purchase something already cooked at the grocery store (like a Stouffer's meal). We have noticed even fast food has risen to prices we never would have expected prior to 2020.

We still have a couple reasonably priced places for take out but when a McDonald's meal for two is $20.00 and KFC is $25.00 for their smallest bucket meal... no thanks.  We now do what we did for many years when we wanted to eat out on a budget, we go out for breakfast or get Chinese take out for lunch.

Mostly I cook at home and I am convinced the best way to beat food supply challenges and inflation is to know how to cook from scratch.  I would say equally important is to have a garden but that isn't possible for us these days.  So, we do the best with what we can given the circumstances and I thank God that I can still cook and do housework... a little at a time!

My daughter-in-law's father commented after our Easter meal on what a good cook I am (he has told me that often through the years) and I only half jokingly told him it was from watching all those cooking shows through the decades.  I did learn a lot from them, like using herbs/spices and learning good cooking techniques that were once only available in the finest of cooking schools.

I was thinking this past week how the price of most fast food meals for just two people these days are more than the cost of many cookbooks.  Even then, both of the libraries near where I live have shelves upon shelves of cookbooks.  Then there are the YouTube channels galore that teach cooking techniques for anyone who wants to learn.

I think it is important to remember... and I have to remind myself... that people have gone through times of inflation, shortages, war and peace, drought, floods, and all kinds of disruptions to food supplies for thousands of years.  That is how many of our recipes came about through the generations.

I have started going through my warm season recipes to think about what meals can be planned that are healthy and inexpensive.  For awhile now since there are just the two of us at home, we have been leaning toward simple dinners. I am skimming cookbooks and my recipe cards (collected for decades now) for warm weather favorites.

I also need to remember that we need to celebrate life once in awhile.  I love making tea time foods and serving them on favorite pretty china plates so I'm thinking a tea party for the littles would be good this spring. Piper at five and Oliver at three are just the right age to enjoy a tea party and we will invite the other adults in our life.

Formal tea time meals can be quite expensive in a restaurant but quite frugal when made at home.  I have a nice collection of pretty plates, teacups, and serving pieces purchased at thrift stores through the years.  Perhaps I should write out my ideas and share them here?  With warm weather finally arriving, although it is to briefly get cold again, I can see simple picnic food taken to the park with a stop by the zoo to look at the animals.

There is so much we can do on a budget and when our favorite foods are now expensive.  I plan to ask God for ideas for I have found Him to give me amazing ideas in the past, and to lead me to resources that will help.  Hmmm... come to think of it, I do have a stack of "vintage" Victoria magazines to peruse.

My ponderings this week were in a completely different direction than I had planned to write but this is what kept coming to my mind.  Doing the best we can and you know what... making having to stretch a dollar look good!  Instead of complaining, I plan to be more creative.

Back to thoughts on stocking up next week...