Help me spend some food money

[hiccups]

Ok, so today my mom called and said she was going to send a big chunk of money for us to use on food storage, because she doesn't like what's going on in the world.

:l0 (29):

Hot diggity. One way that I want to spend the moolah is to get some freeze dried meats, fruits, veggies & entrees. I haven't ordered or eaten many of these before so I'm looking for feedback. What's yummy? What isn't? Where it's cheapest? To TVP or not to TVP? How long will it last in cans? Would it be better to get some things just dehydrated?

I'll be doing some researching the next few days, but anything you can tell me would be much appreciated!

[LEVE]

Buy what you eat, eat what you buy. People that buy and store foods that are strange to them... often will starve rather than eat it. Funny about that...

[silverstate51]

Here's a link: http://beprepared.com/product.asp?pn=FC%20M350&bhcd2=1297548470

Mountain House is supposed to be one of the better brands.
Hope you find something you like.

[mirkwood]

I've generally been happy with the MH prodcuts I have purchased.

I sent you a PM too.

[Noahs ARK]

Lucky you!! Very exciting news. Is there anything more fun that planning what storage to buy? I say no.

I like Mountain House. Shelf-Reliance also has wonderful freeze-dried foods! (You can get a discount thru AbrahamsWife, too!!) I haven't been disappointed in any of the FD or dehydrated foods so far.

We don't really like TVP unless it's disguised or mixed in with something like chili, casserole, etc. Bacon TVP is good with beans.

Don't know what kind of money you're talking, but let us know what you decided to buy!

My preference, if I had all my basics, would be MRE polytrays, Yoders Bacon, Red Feather butter, canned cheese. Stuff that doesn't require water.

[mirkwood]

I like Mountain House. Shelf-Reliance also has wonderful freeze-dried foods!

Shelf Reliance foods are from the same manufacturer as Mountain House. They both use Oregon Freeze Dry.

[4evermama]

Ditto on Mirk and Noah's freeze dried comments.

FYI- FD shredded cheese is out of this world. LOOOOOVE it.
Honeyville grain has competitive prices on fruits and vegis and all have been good.

If you go this route...store lots of water, water and more water.

I don't mind TVP, but if you can afford the meat, it's more palatable to a broader range of people.

Noah's remark about the mre's is also right on. Poly trays are working out great for us. Canned butter and cheese has a great shelf life.

Decide what your goals are, on paper, before you make any purchases.
Shop around for the sales.

If you are buying A LOT, don't be afraid to contact a seller by phone.
Sometimes they can cut a deal. If your order is large enough, you could really save some money.

Make sure that you have your basics in line first.
Then focus on balance.

Congratulations!!!! Yea, Mom!!!!!!

[Noahs ARK]

FYI- FD shredded cheese is out of this world. LOOOOOVE it.

It is!

Hiccups - don't forget that MREDepot will give you a 20% discount with the coupon code that somebody here has (I can't remember the code or who has the code, tho - sorry!).

What fun! :l0 (62):

[tracie]

You may also want to invest in a dehydrator to take advantage of sales and add more variety.

[prairiemom]

See, I agree with that "buy what you eat" adage. And when I look at my shopping list, I've never once bought FD meat. If I had a bunch of money, I'd be buying a ton of meat and can it. Home canned meat costs a fraction of FD and you don't have to worry about having water on hand. Because some day you'll need to rotate that meat (i.e. eat it.) Will you be able to replace it 5 yrs from now w/o mom's financial input? Can you really afford a meal that costs $3.50/serving?

Along the lines of "buy a man a fish, feed him for a day..." If you buy the fish (FD meat) you have food for a day. I'd look at my food-production capabilities and buy equipment. The dehydrator that Tracie mentions, pressure canner if you don't have one, freezer if you need one, maybe a vacuum sealer. And then buy as much food as you can fresh and on sale and process it. With good food preservation equipment you'll have food all the time.

[Julie]

I'm with prairiemom. If you get the equipment then you can still get food storage during hard times via garden, hunting, etc...

[Earthling]

I have canned chicken & green beans but not beef.

What cuts of beef work well canned? What are good prices for those cuts? Do you pack them raw or cooked?

[lurker]

Macey's in Provo/Spanish will have chicken on sale for $.88 per pound this week. Bottling it would be relatively cheap.

A dehydrator is a great idea. I dried last year's carrot crop and they were great. Same with my apricots and apples. I'm planning more dried carrots, green beans, corn, zuccini, and strawberries from this year's garden. I test-dried some storebought strawberries last night and they worked great.

ANother option would be to invest in beekeeping. Bee populations are way down right now and we need to build them back up as much as possible.

[GAMom]

As to home canning beef, I can a lot of ground beef. We use it all the time. I buy up a bunch when Sam's Club has it marked down and store it in the freezer till I have enough to can. Usually 5-6 large packages. (I just bought 3 packages - for a total of 15.88 #'s at $ 2.25 per #. Paid a total of $ 35.64 instead of $44.61!)

I thaw it & then brown the meat till there is no more pink in it - then put into wide mouth pints and process it for 1 1/2 hrs. YES - that's a long time - but it's needed to make sure it's completely done. I have put the raw hamburger meat straight into the jars, but it comes out all in one mass - sorts like a meat loaf. I just prefer it to be more crumbly whenI go to use it - so I pre-cook it some before canning it. I am planning on putting up this new batch in 1/2 pints - with a family of 3 now - I do not need to use a whole pint for a dinner. I use it in any recipe that would normally use cooked ground beef. The only thing that I have not been able to do with it is make a meat laof - then I use raw ground beef & some sausage to make it.

I have also done stew beef - I bought up cheep pot roasts, or even stew meat when it's marked down and I do not cook it prior to processing it. I put it up in wide mouth pints as well. The stew beef is good to make a quick beef soup, stew or even beef chunks and gravy over rice, potatoes or toast.

To help with the flavor of the meat when it comes out - I put some seasoning salt and dehydrated onions in the bottom of the jar before filling it with the meat. That way it cooks in some of the flavor and is not so bland when you go to use it.

[Toni]

I'd avoid tvp. Last time I had some, it was g-r-o-s-s. If it were me, I'd get a bunch of freeze-dried fruit from Emergency Essentials. I say them because they have fd fruit that has no sugar added (I can't remember the brand). It's so expensive that I couldn't get much of it, so if I had a blessing like lots of money just for storage, I'd get some of that. Of course, I might eat it all - but if I could forbear, and replace as I ate, it might be okay.

One of those machines that sucks the air out of bags and bottles would be good. A lady I know put brown rice in bottles (pint or quart size) and used that machine on them. Several years later (like 12 or 13+), she opened a can and the rice was still good (rice is notorious for going rancid fairly quickly). One of those and bags of rice, oat groats, wheat, etc. Another thing I'd get is salt, as well as sugar (we got sucanat and dried cane juice - they have a few of the nutrients left in).

[hiccups]

See, I agree with that "buy what you eat" adage. And when I look at my shopping list, I've never once bought FD meat. If I had a bunch of money, I'd be buying a ton of meat and can it. Home canned meat costs a fraction of FD and you don't have to worry about having water on hand. Because some day you'll need to rotate that meat (i.e. eat it.) Will you be able to replace it 5 yrs from now w/o mom's financial input? Can you really afford a meal that costs $3.50/serving?

Along the lines of "buy a man a fish, feed him for a day..." If you buy the fish (FD meat) you have food for a day. I'd look at my food-production capabilities and buy equipment. The dehydrator that Tracie mentions, pressure canner if you don't have one, freezer if you need one, maybe a vacuum sealer. And then buy as much food as you can fresh and on sale and process it. With good food preservation equipment you'll have food all the time.

I remember you mentioning that you dehydrate your veggies and make them into a powder. What do you use to grind the dried veggies into powder?

[DMGNUT]

See, I agree with that "buy what you eat" adage. And when I look at my shopping list, I've never once bought FD meat. If I had a bunch of money, I'd be buying a ton of meat and can it. Home canned meat costs a fraction of FD and you don't have to worry about having water on hand. Because some day you'll need to rotate that meat (i.e. eat it.) Will you be able to replace it 5 yrs from now w/o mom's financial input? Can you really afford a meal that costs $3.50/serving?

Along the lines of "buy a man a fish, feed him for a day..." If you buy the fish (FD meat) you have food for a day. I'd look at my food-production capabilities and buy equipment. The dehydrator that Tracie mentions, pressure canner if you don't have one, freezer if you need one, maybe a vacuum sealer. And then buy as much food as you can fresh and on sale and process it. With good food preservation equipment you'll have food all the time.

This excellent post bears repeating.
Earthling, with a pressure cooker you can jar any meat... fish, beef, chicken, pork... you name it.
For beef, whatever the cut, I cube it, and I do ground beef too.
I like the wide mouth, pint jars which tend to hold right at 1# and allow for removal of the now cook meat with more ease.
Lurker's idea for bee keeping is great too, and I love honey, but I'm allergic to bee stings, so its a no-go for me.
GAMom, thanks for the great tip on ground beef. Don't know why, but precooking it a little, just never occurred to me. :blush:
Adding some seasonings before hand never occurred to me either... great tips.

[DMGNUT]

And by the way... How are you set in regards to protecting your family and your newly acquired provisions?
I know your Mom wants you to have more food, but whether she mentioned it or not, I'm pretty sure she'd like to know you are safe as well.
If you're well set in armaments, have you had professional training?
I'm just saying...

[hiccups]

Here's an update: I bought some items from the cannery, some freeze dried items from EE, and some other basics from the grocery store. I got this v2244 food saver on clearance at Cabela's: http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=1203661&destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fproduct.jsp%3FproductId%3 D752052%26type%3Dproduct%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26sea rchPath%3D%252Fcatalog%252Fsearch.cmd%253Fform_sta te%253DsearchForm%2526N%253D0%2526fsch%253Dtrue%25 26Ntk%253DAllProducts%2526Ntt%253Dfood%252Bsaver%2 526x%253D0%2526y%253D0%2526WTz_l%253DHeader%25253B Search-All%252BProducts%26Ntt%3Dfood%2Bsaver%26WTz_l%3DHe ader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts&WTz_l=YMAL%3BBC%3BIK-540037 for only $49! I finally picked out a dehydrator and plan to order it tomorrow. I picked this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001VEUSXS/ref=s9_simh_gw_p79_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=04G9CXF1C2W9YF0EPHBX&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938811&pf_rd_i=507846 which seems to be a similar design to the excalibur dehydrators, except in stainless steel which I much prefer. I found it for $223.99 + free shipping here: http://www.everydaykitchenneeds.com/tray-food-dehydrator-p-199259.html and that's just a bit more than I'd have spent on the excalibur unit. I also need to order mason jar attachments & bags for the food saver and a new seal ring and pressure gauge for the pressure canner I inherited.

[Dolcezza]

I would acquire a good Excalibur dehydrator, plenty of seeds, a sprouter, a good stock of herbal remedies for all sort of diseases, some dehydrated food, a slow cooker, an as for which foods I would look at the food storage list that Dr. Christopher gave, which is based on the Word of Wisdom.

Simple, heh?

Dolcezza :wink (3):

[prairiemom]

Sounds like you got a LOT of good stuff. Congrats on the Food Saver and the pressure canner. Tell us how the dehydrator works for you.

[Dolcezza]

Are you talking to me? I don't have an Excalibur, I have an Ezidri dehydrator. Real fun to use. No pressure cooker, no slow cooker.
Seeds here cost more than 5 dollars per small packet so I can't store them as much, plus they go off in 2 years and my land is tiny. :)

Having just enrolled in Dr. Christopher's Family Herbalist course, I am starting to realise that lots of common stuff LDS put in the food storage is highly discouraged from Dr. C. and other holistic doctors, so I will have to change things around quite a lot.

That's what makes me say: careful because what you eat and store today could be very different from what you will want to eat later (after you find out how bad it was for you!):smilewinkgrin:

Dolcezza

[prairiemom]

Sorry, Dolcezza, I guess I wasn't clear. That was for hiccups.

[Noahs ARK]

I would acquire a good Excalibur dehydrator, plenty of seeds, a sprouter, a good stock of herbal remedies for all sort of diseases, some dehydrated food, a slow cooker, an as for which foods I would look at the food storage list that Dr. Christopher gave, which is based on the Word of Wisdom.

Simple, heh?

Dolcezza :wink (3):

I've never heard of this list, Dolcezza....help!

[Gingersnap]

Thank you for starting this thread, it inspired me to get a food saver. I went to a RS enrichment last week, where a sister in the area that wrote a book, dinnerisinthejar.com ,demonstrated her techniques and I learned SO Much! It was humbling in the most wonderful way, she saved me about 10,000 man hours figuring out what to get and how to use it myself. I ordered her book from amazon today and saw that there are several books available cooking everyday foods with storage supplies.

I am also filling in the gaps of my preps. My favorite tips from her book: difference between dried, dehydrated, and freeze-dried. She recommends dehydrated. I found some at wal-mart (celery, bell peppers, etc.) She also avoids using MSG (hooray) and has found sources for that. How to use dried eggs - mix into the dry, don't reconstitute and add to wet was really helpful. I took so many notes - very helpful class.

But I digress, seeing the food saver demonstrated with a tube removing oxygen from a canning jar using a special lid attachment was amazing. I NEED that toy, ahem, TOOL, for my kitchen. I have been intrigued by the idea of a food saver, but worried that it would just be an expensive gadget that never got used. With canning jars, not the expensive plastic bags, I can see this getting lots of action. Also, in doing the research, I found reviews that said the flat push down variety (older style) are great for researling cracker, chip, and cereal type foods after opened. I am really going to give that a go.

Also - I lost a freezer full of organic free-range beef last week. The plug to the freezer just went bad. It was the puddle of blood under the freezer that signalled the outlet's demise. I took this as a wake up call that I need to can the meat instead of freezing it. So THANK YOU for the info on canning meat. I ordered a gasketless pressure cooker and plan to process most of my next side of beef. So sad at the waste of it, but at least I can learn from that. :nopity: If you can't be an example, at least you can be a warning!

[JuneGem]

hiccups, thank you so much for the heads up on the Cabela's sale! We have just purchased our first FoodSaver (although we selected a different one). We also shared the info with another friend who has held off because of the price. I suspect they will be getting another order soon from him.

I saw someone mentioned (by someone else) the mason jar attachment. We've looked at that and will definitely be getting one! Can think of several great uses for it!

[hiccups]

It was definitely fun to pick stuff out and search for good deals. I should have the dehydrator by the end of the week & I will let everyone know how it does. There aren't a lot of reviews on this dehydrator, but I am hoping and thinking good thoughts.