Living the Pantry Lifestyle - Thinking about what may become hard to buy and sharing

I have been thinking more this week about purchasing a little at a time to share with friends and loved ones if needed someday.  I'm embarrassed to say I hadn't thought of it very much before reading a book that talked about WWII shortages again and then hearing about sugar being unavailable in some areas of the country already.

I have heard that we will see even more shortages on items like sugar and coffee (say it isn't so) but many "experts" in the area of food processing think it will be more likely be the cost of food that will hurt the average person the most.

My own pantry isn't all that deep and it is getting harder for all of us to even keep up with what we need each week with the skyrocketing food inflation. However, many of these basic items do not cost all that much when purchased in small amounts.  I bought one small bag of sugar to start with last week.

I thought about what was needed most in war time and they always talked about sugar, salt, and oil or other fats. Not to mention tea in Great Britain and coffee here (it took awhile for Americans to get over the Boston Tea Party and drink tea again).  ;)

Sugar is not necessarily good for the body (although both honey and maple syrup have nutrients) but having gone through two long periods of unemployment, I know how being able to bake a cake for a birthday or a pie for a Sunday treat made the lean times better.

Fat, however, (contrary to diet books on the shelves) is required for our health.  Many vitamins need fat to be absorbed into the body.  A lot of accounts from WWI and WWII I have read talked about the lack of fat in their food supply becoming a real problem for their health.

Most vegetable oils are not expensive where I live, yet. They cost more than last year but not the increase in price like some foods, so far. Some fats have a longer shelf life, such as solid coconut oil and ghee (butter with solid fats removed).  I have one jar of ghee put back for a recipe but I should put back one more. 

Crisco is not healthy but in a crisis, it would come in handy and it does have a longer shelf life.  Although, unlike what we used to be told, it is not indefinite.  Crisco can go rancid.  I always have a few sticks of regular Crisco for a few cookie recipes that call for it.

Olive oil should be purchased in dark glass containers.  Extra virgin olive oil can be expensive but pure olive oil, that which is left after the first pressing, isn't as pricey.  We use some canola oil for frying, extra virgin olive oil for salads, drizzling on vegetables, and medicinal purposes (my husband uses a tablespoon a day when taking Vitamin D), and avocado oil from time to time.

I will continuing purchasing a small bag of sugar and small amounts of other items as I can afford them.  I don't have much space but I thought about putting them in a Rubbermaid container to protect from rodents in the garage.  It will soon be cool enough to store some food there.  

I would rather have smaller amounts and help a few people should these foods become unavailable than large bags and only share with one or two (although sugar can be easily transferred to smaller containers if one already buys in bulk).

I volunteered to do our Sam's Club shopping this month since I already had another errand in town.  My husband usually does the shopping every other month or we will make a quick trip to purchase a couple items on our way to buy water softener salt.  It was actually nice to be there alone with time to look around.

I bought two of their rotisserie chickens that are still only $4.95 for very large chickens.  I used some of the white meat with dinner that night and then took all the meat off of the chickens and froze most of it in smaller bags the next day.  The chicken carcasses were simmered to make a delicious broth.

My husband had asked me to see if they had the two-pack of ibuprofen available and they did so, I bought one of those.  Other than the almonds and cashews I had stopped for, I did add to my Holiday pantry by purchasing a Sam's size bag of Ghirardelli White Vanilla Flavored melting wafers.  They are much cheaper  per ounce in bulk than in the smaller bags at grocery stores.

We don't buy a lot at Sam's like larger families do but definitely enough to make it worth the annual membership fee.  When needed, we buy things like toilet paper and batteries there, too. You can also buy gas at a better price with a Sam's Club membership but we earn gas credits with our Kroger card and it is located much closer to where we live.

I agree with the Comment from last week, definitely think about getting your turkeys now for the Holidays.  I know thousands more birds had to be killed recently because they tested positive for the bird flu. 

I read the Aldi sales e-mail this week and it mentioned that they have turkey breasts back in stock.  I have one in the deep freeze and I wanted to buy a second but they were already sold out after Easter.

Last year, the stores had turkeys but they didn't put them on sale until just before Thanksgiving.  If that happens again, I will get a turkey for the deep freeze on clearance but when it is just the two of us, we prefer turkey breasts.  My son is planning on smoking turkey legs as part of the Thanksgiving celebration this year and I will roast a turkey breast.

I almost have everything I need for Holiday baking and cooking that can be purchased ahead.  I need to purchase some cans of Libby pumpkin puree.  I have a couple cans of pumpkin left from when I stocked up two years ago but I plan to use it in pumpkin bars and pumpkin cookies (recipes linked to last Saturday).

Here it is September so Thanksgiving will be just around the corner for Canada and then the United States.  As one gets older, it seems we blink and a week has gone by already... or a year! 

I didn't have time to look up any recipes but I will try to look up a couple favorites this week.  I'm going through them to see what is needed for the pantry, anyway.