A few days back, Rhonda made the suggestion of cleaning out the pantry in preparation for food storage. Being a fan of really good ideas, I decided to take her advice. It's just amazing what one finds when cleaning the pantry. And I'm not referring to the dust bunnies either. For instance, the stale crackers were placed in a ziplock, crushed with the rolling pin, and will be used in place of bread crumbs. The cheerios are now stored in a plastic pitcher which I happened to have on hand. I pulled out my Charles Chips can to store the fresh crackers. Any can with a good seal will work for this. We've all been reading the articles on world food shortages. We've all suffered from sticker shock after each trip to the grocery store. Some of you may be calling it Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but that's for your doctor to diagnosis, not me.
We've read the bad news, now what's the good news? We can do what our mothers and grandmothers did. They read weekly ads, bought what was on sale, and stocked up on sale items. They learned to cook with what was available and in season. Who doesn't remember chipped beef on toast? AND most important, they did not go shopping every other day. (All guilty of this, beep your horn!)
I thought I would introduce just a couple of ideas I've put in to practice for the last 8 years.
I put as many of my staples as possible in glass. Cardboard is not meant to hold items for a long amount of time. Most of my big jars I found at the flea market for $1.00 or $2.00. Perhaps you can check with your school cafeteria or local restaurant owner to locate some. 
Recently, Wendy and I were discussing bread making. I explained that I grind my grain using a small coffee bean grinder, as I only need to grind 1 cup at a time. I add 1 cup of fresh ground to 2 cups of regular flour. I've never had to throw out any grain kept sealed in glass. If you own a Seal-A-Meal or are considering purchasing one, I highly recommend it. I use mine to freeze meat and poultry that I buy in bulk. If I cook extra portions of soup, I first freeze it in a small plastic container, then when frozen, I easily pop out the portion, place it in a bag, and seal it. Food lasts much longer when vacuum sealed than in Zip-Locks or plastic containers.
When buying grains, rice, oats, etc. in bulk, I can vacuum seal it in a clean canning jar using the jar top attachment. By boiling a new canning lid, wiping dry, and placing it on top of a clean, filled canning jar, then vacuum sealing, it's ready for long-term storage. Usually I add 1 or 2 bay leaves when storing any grains to deter bugs which occur naturally in grains.
And lastly, if you'd like to share any of your storage ideas, your mom's frugal recipes, or grannies' anecdotes, please leave a comment.
Until then, keep stitchin' . . . .
Side Note:
After a bit of research on the internet, I found this site (http://www.specialtybottle.com) that offers storage jars sold by the case.
And if you pop on over to Lehman's you'll find this handy item, which would also work well if you use a lot of olive oil. http://www.lehmans.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=7447&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=964&iSubCat=964&iProductID=7447
7 comments:
I love this topic, more more more! xoxo melzie
Chipped beef on toast is one of my favorite meals yum! Enjoyed reading your post.
What a great post...yup we're going to have to go back to the way mom's and grandma's used to do it...and I think we'll be better for it. Certainly be healthier.
I stocked up on my favorite convenience food, Uncle Ben's brown rice, just before the prices went up.
I've actually seen 1/2 gallon and 1 gallon canning jars by Ball at Hobby Lobby, of all places. Another good place to look would be True Value and Ace hardware stores.
Love this topic, too!
Donna in Tulsa
Great post! I've stored stuff in jars for years now (corn meal, flour, sugar, etc.) I found that by freezing flour for at least 24 hours I could put it on the shelf forever with no bugs. For a while I even had a list on the door of my pantry of all that was there and checked it off as I used it. Don't do that any more but I should return to it - it sure kept me from buying stuff I already had. My grandmother would turn over in her grave at some of the wasteful things I do. I'm trying hard to return to her philosophy of "use it up." Blessings,
Hi San, great post, and very timely. I too use larger glass jats for storage, but mostly because I love the look of 'stuff' in the old jars *VBS* Kind of dual purpose, reminds me what I have, and I enjoy the shapes and textures visually.
Nursing homes may be another source for larger glass jars. I see one of yours looks squared on the edges..I have several of those. They are definitely older jars. I'm lucky enough to have the original metal covers also.
I don't have the Seal a Meal, but it's something to think about. It would be great if we considered using more bean dishes, lentils, etc. instead of so much meat. As I said, great post. Hugs, Finn
Oh cleaning out our pantry is a scarey, scarey thing! But my middle daughter is so wonderful at it. Time for her to come home from college and do it for me! She is so good at it!
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