Good evening Steemit! My followers will be aware of the recent change in my life's direction and I thought I'd fill you all in on a little project I've taken up to make some use of the situation.
For those reading about this for the first time, I essentially last week started an unexpected period of unemployment. As a result my wife and I have decided to use this as an opportunity to live off our deep pantry supplies as an experiment in determining how effective they actually are in a real situation.
Of course we still have some supplies in the fridge and our normal pantry that we have yet to work our way through, there's still cooked chicken, cottage cheese and some veggies for example but we are starting on the supplies we have prepared and I think a period of unemployment is just one of those circumstances where you want to rely on previous preparations.
Here's a quick video describing the idea...
Today for example we used up some cooked chicken and some veggies and decided to start using some of our stored Continental Deb Instant Mashed Potato from our stocks. The sachet was enough to fill both me and my wife. I love the taste, they're smooth and flavoursome... just requiring some hot water to whip up. I'd use the remaining hot water to make a cuppa if in a survival situation.
My wife had never tried them before but liked them so they're a big tick on the prepping checklist. We should get more when we restock.
They are so tasty that the horses couldn't resist pushing in and trying the leftovers. Check out the tongue!
We've also used some of our petrol supplies too. That goes fast! For those who haven't seen it, my original food prepping video which runs through some of our supplies is below.
We'll let you know how the prepping has worked for us. By actually using the supplies we have, we're rotating our stock, avoiding unnecessary outlays on groceries while I'm not working and most importantly determining how useful our selections have been.
We will be able to know what worked well, what doesn't keep, what we get sick of and what we'd stock more of in the future. That'll make for a much more robust set up of supplies in the future as they'll have been "field tested".
Thanks for reading & watching everyone. Comments welcome.
I use dried cherries. It only takes a minute or two to rehydrate them and they're a nice variation on the oats.
What a great idea @doctorjohn I hadn't heard of doing that. Do you buy them like that or dry them yourself?
I buy them. There ar very few Fruit trees in Oklahoma
That's a shame! So you substitute the cherries for the oats or add them to the oats? If substituting that'd mean a lot of fructose right?
Add them! just a few. If you are cooking your oats, you can add the dried fruit before cooking wit just a bit of extra water.
Sounds delicious. Now you mention it, we do have packets of dried apricot that we suppliment meals with or eat alone. They're in a sealed plasic bag. Perhaps similar to what you prurchase.
Oh I love this :). @nonlocluap
Good Stoic thinking, well done my friend :). You'd ace the Stoic Challenge I challenged Steemians to do a month ago.
Maybe you should try this new one, too as part of prepping
And are you looking for a job/income at the same time while eating off these supplies?
What a great idea your challenges are @joewantsfreedom! (By the way I want freedom too)... I had a look at your sleeping challenge albeit briefly for now (will look in more detail later on after chores) and the whole concept appeals to me. In fact the sleeping thing we already do now and then. We also take cold showers sometimes. The discomfort keeps you in a little condition to deal with adversity if it's thrown upon you. Anyway, on my last birthday my wife and I slept on the floor in front of the open fireplace in our last home. It was novel and I really enjoyed the flickering light, the crackling sounds and of course the warmth. The floor didn't bother us!
That actually sounds like a perfect evening to me :). Nice birthday present.
And I'm glad you like the challenges. Let me know if you give it a go.
Very interesting and wonderful idea. I don't have anything stocked up but looking forward to recommendations for my future pantry :)
Will be pleased to share @pearica. I definitely recommend having something stocked up. The longer video in my post runs through some of the considerations if you're interested 😊
Will check it out!
Great post! Can't wait to find out what you would recommend and if you would change anything after this experience :) Upvote
Thank you kindly @cookiemonster. I'm actually keen to find out myself. Creamy mash potato with pinapple pieces sounds like a good combo! I'm sure we will find some interesting mixes. 😃
interesting to know what are the sell by dates on these, have any gone past it that you have tried and what is /are their state in looks , taste , smell etc
All part of the exercise @pamfrench... its a good point. Having the supplies out on shelves makes it easier to rotate stock. Before we had this space, much of it was boxed so it was easy to forget. We've tried to sellect nonperishable items & previously stocked energy drinks, soy based drinks and the like and they did go off.
look forward to reading your reviews on the stored products, to find out which actually last longer than the previously reviewed ones ...like rice / fish tins / dry pulses/ salt and pepper / sauces......
Thanks for sharing this. I too have after unemployment had to depend on my preps. You seem to have a much larger stockpile than I had. It's not fun when it runs out that I can tell you :-(
I can imagine @geordieprepper! Best to find out early how long things will last rather than run out unexpectedly when you're relying on it. Hopefully this exercise is an example of the benefits of prepping for those who currently don't
Good post. I keep some extra food around but the problem is storing water. I have several cases but it's hard to store enough to last very long for three people. You need it for everything. Hopefully things will never get that bad.
Big consideration @garden-to-eat you're right. On top of storing water in various quantities and locations, we also stock the means to purify water. The filters and purification tabs in the video above are an example. Of course having a local water supply to leverage these or an ability to travel to one safely must then play in.
Excellent plan and good thinking! You might want to keep a 'master list' of yes/no/maybe on items. You have a lot and it's easy to forget as time passes. It will also help when you're ready to re-stock. You'll have your list halfway complete already!
Great point and I've started to do just that on your recommendation @aunt-deb. Already, for example, we know which brand of instant mashed potato is better!
Awesome! So glad it's helping!
Sorry to hear about the job loss @nolnocluap. At least it will give you some space to decide which direction you want to head in next.
Having the food stocks is so useful in situations like this. Fortunately I haven't been unemployed but I am self employed so we have periods of 'variable earnings'. Having our food preps has helped to smooth out the periods when that earnings variability has been more on a downward slope.
And it is a great way to rotate stocks and test out what you do and don't like! It would be most unfortunate if when the dark days come and you find you those 100 tins of whatever you bought at a bargain price turn out to quite uneatable!
If people are realistic, unemployment is one of the things you prep for, so that in that time you are less stressed about surviving and can focus on making the needed income. Good job. You'll also be rotating your stores. win-win
Sorry to hear about the job mate. But what an opportunity to test out the supplies and fine tuning your prep.
Where do you get your water purification tablets?
We dont drink tap water and I buy the bottles for Ben while I get the 10l ones for myself. That would last us round about 2 weeks. That said Id love to be able to purify my own.
Hi @bearone thanks for the well wishes. The water tabs as well as the life straw filter, 30 year survival buckets, solar fire stater etc all came from http://www.survivalsuppliesaustralia.com.au/ they've got a great range and usually send me freebies with my orders 😃
Then there's the Brita jug filter we have. You can pick them up from big w or similar. Thats what I use to filter our rain water.
Did you manage to catch my original prepping video?
Hope that helps
@nolnocluap thanks for sharing this thing!! Great work!!
Thanks @raghwendra. It'll be really useful knowledge to obtain as we don't really know how effective such supplies are until put to the test. Looking forward to sharing more with you all.
Looking forward to reading more about your prepping practice nolnocluap. SK.
Thanks mate.
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Yup. Prepping isn't about an apocolyptic scenario, it's too prepare for times of hardship in general as well. I'm glad you have a reserve to fall back on in these trying
Thanks for the comment @jdc you are spot on. All manner of disruptions could make prepping worth while.
I think too often preppers overlook this personal SHTF situation! I think it's great that you have a stockpile to fall back on. Hope things turn around for you soon!
Couldn't agree more. You'll always need food and water so what does it matter of they're just purchased a little early? We have already learned things about our choices for storage so when we restock it'll be even more robust. Thanks for the comment!
People just don't understand that prepping isn't just for the zombie apocalypse it can be for a sickness or job loss. Great post 👍🏻
Yeah that's so true @mylittlehomestead. Prepping even in the smallest way attracts laughter and ridicule even when there are practical and sensible reasons for being prudent. Thanks for contributing you voice of reason
Sorry to hear about your job loss. I was laid off in January '09 working as an engineer in the oilfield and it turned out to be a great thing. I started a whole new career in an entirely different field. It sucked at the time but you never know what opportunities lay in wait.
That's how I'm trying to view this scenario @dwhntx. For now I'm resisting the inherent motivation to jump straight back in to similar work. What did you end up moving on to? Did you leverage personal contacts to make the change or did it happen through chance perhaps?
Thanks for commenting 👍
I went from engineer to police officer, eventually detective and now a science teacher. Pushing 40 and I still don't know what I want to do lol.
Wow, see that's a very well spent life to date @dwhntx. You see, I've often watched people who stay in either the same career, or worse, the same job for decades. I have often thought that living a life of utter monotony like that would be akin to a slow death of mediocrity.
For example, I think of those who still work at the company where I gained my first post-graduate job. I think of them still walking the same hallways and driving the same streets to and from the office - likely just on automatic.
In that time I've traveled the country, lived and worked in different states and experienced different industries within the engineering field. It's like I've lived many lives to their one.
What you describe sounds appealing and being ex-army, I'd wondered about serving in the police myself. Detective sounds very interesting but I'd imagine you have to do the hard-yards to get there.
Thanks for the motivation. Always nice to know that others have had success along a path that faces me now.
I totally agree. Engineering was the worst of them all and paid the best by far. I worked with people that showed up for money only and hated the rest of it. Actually when I made detective it was interesting but I really missed the action on the street. If I was single I would still be a cop, very interesting work. Now as a school teacher I have great classes and then ones that drive me crazy. Students get away with so much now compared to when I was a kid.
A lot of people think it is crazy but I think we need to go for what makes us happy. Money doesn't mean a darn thing if you hate life earning it.
You are touching on a realisation that I'm only just formulating at this stage of my life. My working hypothesis is that it should be an objective to only make enough income to live comfortably and secure a little for the future. By this I mean that perhaps earning in excess of that should be something actively avoided as by doing so, we trade more of our life than is warranted resulting in the engineering observations you describe.
I'm only coming to grips with this thinking after some time off from the rat race but experiencing what little nuances and small pleasures life has to offer when you're not stuck in an office every day makes for sobering lightbulb moments.