7 Basic Food Items to Stock Now
Today I want to talk about 7 basic food items to stock now! You know, I really have to think about the reasons for listening to the news. It doesn’t matter which channel, it’s just not uplifting for the most part, right? Yes, I want to know what’s going on in our country and the world.
It’s very concerning to me right now when I consider the condition of our food chain. Now, I’m not talking about hoarding food, I’m talking about stocking your pantry with the food you will eat today and when we have an emergency. You’ve heard the slogan, “Store what you eat and eat what you store.”
If there was ever a time I suggest you should stock up, it’s more important now than ever before. We saw what has happened in the last few years at so many levels. It hasn’t been pleasant for us based on the level of challenges brought on by bad weather, sickness, unemployment, and more. If we needed toilet paper, paper towels, bottled water, over-the-counter meds, and more, the shelves were empty in many places. That doesn’t count the issues with the empty food shelves. That’s why I’m suggesting you evaluate your storage inventory and consider stocking up on critical items NOW.
I’ve felt the need to update this post so I can remind all my loyal readers to take inventory of what they have stored, what they show as needed based on their emergency plan, and what they should add to stay up to speed.
7 Basic Food Items to Stock Now
Rice
We have talked about rice before, but I feel strongly you need to stock up even more unless you have what will last you for an extended period. I have about 100 pounds in 5-gallon buckets, plus some small containers like those shown below. If I see rice on sale for a good price, I buy it. Mark and I both love white sticky rice.
My favorite rice is Jasmine rice. I don’t store brown rice, it goes rancid too quickly for me. I like things with a longer shelf life, and long-term storage is something we all need to keep in mind as we implement our preparedness plans.
If you need help with how to cook rice, please check out this post, How to Cook Rice. I tried cooking my rice in an Instapot, but it made a mess. I went back to using my rice cooker. I need a quick clean-up after making rice. This is the one I have, Rice Cooker.
You can make so many meals with rice, and stretch most meals by adding more rice. Rice will fill the belly and that’s the reason we need to stock up. Here are some of my favorite rice recipes, 7 Easy Rice Recipes For Every Day Of The Week, and don’t forget Fried Rice.
Canned Beans
By now you know you can eat rice and beans and be okay for a few days during an emergency. We can add other things for variety, but let’s be real here, we need to fill the bellies of our family, and possibly some neighbors who have not planned for any disasters. Beans come in so many varieties you should be able to satisfy everyone’s tastes. You have green beans, black beans, pinto beans, garbanzo beans, kidney beans, and more.
The great thing about canned beans, and other canned veggies, is they are shelf-stable and will be good to eat for a fairly long time. Check those expiration dates and rotate as needed.
If you can make Tortillas you can make bean burritos. If you don’t have a tortilla maker, I recommend this one. Tortilla Maker If you have a cast-iron pan, you can make so many things.
I highly recommend this set, Cast Iron Pans. In case you missed this post on how to make tortillas, How To Make Flour Tortillas From Scratch. If you have crackers or know how to make your own crackers, you can make chicken salad dip with mayonnaise just like Costco serves.
If you can make biscuits, you can make Cream Chip Beef and scoop it over those biscuits. Homemade Biscuits are easy to make. Please practice making items from scratch and teach your kids and grandkids these great skills.
Peanut Butter/Honey/Jam
Mark and I eat peanut butter and jelly/jam sandwiches at least once a week, maybe twice a week. We started buying smaller jars of both peanut butter and jam since there were just the two of us most of the time. Peanut butter doesn’t stay fresh for very long, so smaller jars work for us.
It’s certainly different than when we had our four girls at home. We bought peanut butter in #10 cans! Things have changed for sure! We’ve been known to have peanut butter and honey sandwiches as well.
Watch those calories as you consume these tasty items, but they do provide some of the vitamins and minerals we all need as part of a healthy diet.
White Flour/Wheat
Right now, you may have trouble getting hard white wheat, or any wheat for that matter. Unless you have a wheat grinder, I would not stock lots of it. Some people will tell you that you can barter with it, okay, if that works for you.
I’m not going to have 500 pounds of hard white wheat stored just to barter, but that’s me. I do stock white flour as part of my food storage plan because we can always make cookies, cakes, white bread, tortillas, crackers, and biscuits. The flour only has a shelf life of about one year, so I store the wheat and make my own flour as needed.
Just giving you the heads up about a hand crank grinder, it is not easy to use. I have an awesome one and it’s still hard to hand-crank. I use my electric one weekly to make my whole wheat flour bread.
My hand crank unit is from Montana, I saved for 5 years to buy it. It’s called the GrainMaker, and now they make a smaller one. I have a few electric wheat grinders, but my favorite is the KoMo Classic Wheat Grinder. I will use my solar-powered battery unit to power this one if we lose power for extended periods of time.
For those families with a wheat tolerance issue, you can buy gluten-free flour, but it can prove to be more expensive. I’m blessed to not have any close family members who have to deal with that.
Consider some whole grains and legumes that don’t have gluten, you’ll be surprised what options you have for your grocery list once you’ve done some homework.
Canned Vegetables/Fruits/Meat
We’ll be so glad if we have learned to garden to help replenish our food storage inventory. If we have a drought and have to purchase the fruits and vegetables we need, we can eat these canned items and use them to make so many meals. Be sure and save the liquid so you have extra “water” when needed.
Take your family to the store when they have case lot sales and stock up on the varieties your family will eat. Canned foods provide so many options. We love carrots, spinach, apricots, oranges, apples, peas, sweet potatoes, and so many more. Be sure to get input from each family member when deciding what to buy. If you can fruit and pressure can your vegetables, you are a rock star! It’s all about being prepared with food your family will eat.
To help maintain a diet with the health benefits we need, you should also have canned meats on those shelves. One of the most common canned meats is tuna, but you can also find canned chicken, turkey, pork, beef, and other fish like salmon. With the rice you have, along with the wheat flour, you can make a wide variety of meals that everyone likes. Whether it’s your favorite casserole, some tasty sandwiches, or salads, canned meats are a must-have.
Sauces/Salsa/Spaghetti Sauce
When I was raising my family we had spaghetti once a week, tacos once a week, and homemade pizza once a week. So, it’s only natural for me to stock up on spaghetti sauce, enchilada sauce, pizza sauce, and salsa. Lots of salsa, just so you know! I also have a good stock of herbs and spices so we don’t miss out on the flavor we love. That includes garlic and onion powder and of course salt, for so many meal options.
Mark loves tacos with ground beef, spaghetti with meatballs, and pizza with pepperoni. He says it’s so he can get all the protein he needs. Whatever!! I could easily skip the meat! Just think of all the meals we can fix with spaghetti sauce. Of course, spaghetti, but also lasagne and manicotti! With enchilada sauce, we can make enchiladas super fast!
This is why I store flour tortillas in the freezer. I buy the huge packs from Costco and separate them into 6 tortillas per freezer bag.
Then in the freezer they go, I’ll thaw a package in the refrigerator when I need them, which is almost every day, just saying!
Pasta
Here are a few boxes of pasta I store. I also store them in Rubbermaid 8-quart containers. The boxes of pasta shown below will be used for my series, “Soup In a Jar” which I will be starting again very soon.
All other pasta is removed from boxes and placed in 8-quart Rubbermaid Containers with Lids.
These are the 8-Rubbermaid Containers and Lids that I buy. I give these as wedding gifts too!
What are some other food items I should consider stocking?
Some other items you should consider are:
- Nuts of all kinds like peanuts, cashews, almonds, walnuts, pecans, and pistachios, are all great options. They are healthy treats, add some fiber, and are fairly easy to store. Be cautious about having too many at any given time since they can go rancid.
- Cooking oils are also good additions. I’m not talking about my grandma’s lard. Consider olive oil, coconut oil, and regular vegetable oils. They also come in handy when making your own salad dressings. Don’t forget to have some vinegar around too.
- Many meals are more enjoyable with some common condiments like mustard, ketchup, mayo, relishes, and horse radish.
Final Word
7 Basic Food Items to Stock Now
My hope is that you have stocked up with those items your family will eat. The price of food is going to continue to rise so it will cost us more to feed our families.
So many of us are on a fixed income, whether our budget is $10,000.00 or $900.00 a month, we have to live within our means.
And it is hard, really hard. For those who were raised to cook from scratch, we are lucky, or blessed, you could even say. We’ve learned to cook using basic items that are good for you and can easily be used to make all kinds of meals without having to run to the grocery store or fast food outlet to feed our family.
I’m so glad my mother taught me to make bread, biscuits, and crackers. Oh, and pizza! Keep prepping, we must. May God Bless this world, Linda
Copyright Images: Kitchen Utensils AdobeStock_207898950 by Nitr
Things are a wreck and about to get worse.
If your limited as many people are. I’d get meat, rice and vegetables. If all you can do is one can on your budget then accept that because your still better off than yesterday.
A lot of preparedness focus is on weapons which are necessary but we are in a slow boil situation rather than an immediate event. Food/water becomes more critical in these I noticed overseas. You can look at it as an investment. Fresh green beans are $4 lb right now. They sure weren’t in 2019 but those cans I bought are still good.
Right now is the time to do everything you can. The times of “well next time” I think have passed.
Hi Matt, I totally agree with you. I like the idea of food being an investment. It’s like car insurance, we need it, if we don’t have to use it, at least we had it ready to go. I agree with the slow boil. If people haven’t stocked up, well, they were advised by many to just do it. God helps those who help themselves. You are right “well next time” is gone. Great comment, Linda
I’ve recently been grocery shopping and both supply and prices are rough.
I stock canned tomatoes along with pasta sauces. I can always make my own sauce using canned tomatoes and herbs.
Hi Leanne, I agree we can make our own sauces if we have the tomatoes. I am seeing prices higher than ever before. I do not know how people will feed their families. Hopefully, people know how to cook from scratch. Linda
I’m still surprised at what’s “NOT” in the stores, on the shelves, etc. I’m not a WalMart fan but sometimes I have to go there. I went shopping Friday at 7:30am after sending my grandson off to school. No milk, no eggs, the majority of the dairy section was wiped out. No meats, no bread, several other aisles and most of the coolers were empty. Big bare spaces all over the place. It could be they were just waiting for trucks but one employee said they’d been out of dairy products for a week! I get it that we haven’t recovered from Covid, lack of truck drivers, etc. but I honestly do NOT see this getting better any time soon. When I’ve seen something I use regularly, I buy extra. I’m truly blessed to be able to do that. That even goes for fabric for my quilting hobby! Amazon’s been a lifesaver for us as well as Chewy.com. I have a very supportive husband who agrees with my thinking. We’ve always done “copy canning” with groceries that have a shelf-life. We usually buy 2 to use and 2 to store. It’s definitely helped us…and our grown children…out over this horrible period of time.
Keep helping us and reminding us of what we need to do so we don’t get too lax! It surely pays to be prepared.
Hi Robbie, I keep hearing shortages of butter, milk, and eggs. I’m very concerned that’s why I wrote today’s post. I agree with you some people get comfortable and do not check the shelves. And some people are just scraping buy, I get it. I’ve been there. I grew up very poor but didn’t know we were poor. It’s natural for me to pick up extras at the grocery store and cook from scratch. For others, they have never been taught. You and I were lucky. I have heard fabric is getting harder to get. I’m sure you have too. Stay safe, stay well. Linda
The last time I was at Walmart here in central Missouri the bread,milk and eggs were well stocked. The thing I noticed being out was packets of Fleshmann’s yeast, dry package pizza dough mix,some boxes of Mac and Cheese. I know a few other things were low but these I noticed the most. One thing I did was when I bought my garden seeds for this year I bought extra for next year. I have been blessed by living in the country and close to a small river down so I can
buy tomatoes to can whole and also juice. I also have my own fruit trees for fresh fruit or to make jelly.
As Matt said about buying a can extra if you can. Today I had to go to my local grocery store for milk so I
looked over the Ad and since I have their shoppers card I was able to get a bottle of Italian salad dressing for 99 cents.
I made sure I bought one to add to my stock. I plan on doing a shopping when I get paid for HBA items. Then I will get more food items if my budget allows if not then October will be a food stock up month.
Hi June, I love hearing you are stocking up in so many ways. You are blessed to have fruit trees! Great idea on buying stuff when it’s on sale, it all adds up and fills the pantry at the same time. Good job, Linda
Hi Linda,
The dairy section and paper plates and such were depleted in Walmart in Marshall, Mo on Friday. Aldi dairy was low too. I went to Aldi today when I had a little more time and saw the jars of marinara were only 85 cents. I had not bought any since early winter, when it was $1.35, and I thought that was cheap. I always buy cases. So I have not needed any. However, I bought 2 cases today. I will probably go buy more this week. My daughter will buy it from me and she can’t get out as often. We have to be always looking for good sales on what we use. I think it is going to get worse. Dave Ramsey says when a woman goes shopping she is hunting, lol!
God Bless You, Jackie
Hi Jackie, I guess we are hunters!! That’s too funny! Wow, thanks for the heads up on the dairy and paper plates. I will go check tomorrow and see how the shelves are here. I totally agree it is going to get worse. Hopefully, people are stocking up. Linda
Rice cookers are great, but I swear by the Zojirushi fuzzy logic cookers. Last one I bought was Zojirushi NS-TSC10 5-1/2-Cup (Uncooked) Micom Rice Cooker and Warmer, 1.0-Liter for my sister since her family loves rice and she sometimes runs out of burners on the stove top for family meals. It’s great to set and basically forget it – you just rinse the rice if you don’t want sticky rice and then press cook once the kind of rice is selected. It will cook then keep the rice warm without worrying about the timing. Any meal that uses rice I start a batch an hour or two before the meal and when we’re ready to eat I just fluff and serve. And with a nonstick pot cleanup is a breeze.
I usually cook extra and then can microwave the leftovers quickly for other meals, especially for lunches that I take to work.
Hi DMWalsh, oh I love that brand. I’m looking at getting a bigger rice cooker for the same reason you mentioned. Leftovers, I love leftover rice. Great comment, Linda
Leftover rice is also the best starting point for making fried rice. Works better than freshly cooked rice, so I always try to keep a couple pint soup containers of rice in the fridge and some chunked leftover meat in the freezer in case I need to pull something together quickly for dinner.
Hi DMWalsh, I LOVE fried rice! I may make that for dinner! Love it! Linda
Hi Linda,
Covid is flaring again here in East TN so I haven’t been grocery shopping inside a Walmart. Last week in another local store, the encap displays were only one row deep of product.
Appreciate your reminders to be ready for whatever is over the horizon. This morning I was straightening a closet and ran across an old Augason Farms can. It showed the mfg date but the “best by” wasn’t shown so I thought I would look it up on their website. I tried several times but got a message my browser was redirecting, but it never connected. Do you know if something is up with them? Thanks
Hi Grammy, what is the product? I can compare it to Thrive Life??? Freeze-dried or dehydrated? Thanks for the heads up on Walmart shelves. Covid is flaring here as well in Utah. What is the mfg. date, let’s see if we can figure this out. Linda
Hi Grammy, I saw this phone number for Augason Farms on FaceBook. (800) 878-0099
They also have a website: https://www.augasonfarms.com/
It is a #10 can Whole Eggs that was mfg 4 Sep 2012. Thanks, but I didn’t mean for to hunt it for me. Didnt know if Augason was out of service. Thanks again.
Hi Grammy, I wasn’t sure if they were out of business or service either. My whole eggs from Thrive Life say they have a shelf life of 3 years unopened and 1 year if opened. I would call that phone number. Eggs typically do not have a very long shelf life. Linda
Best food storage for Children, Babies are Cans of Apple Sauce, Cans of Yams, Cans of Milk, Cans of Water. Cans of Orange Juice , purchase fast and quick, as I was orderly on -line Computer Foods , the items were being listed as : SOLD OUT. Food is Everyday. Use wheeled Coleman Coolers for Storage of Foods, Rice , Beans, Dry Bags of Milk. DO NOT DEPEND ON THE FEMA GOVERNMENT TO SAVE YOU. Save yourself now ! Walmarts, Targets, Amazon Food will run out of Food. Emergency Food is everyday, Water is everyday.
Hi Celestial, thank you for your comment, I hope others realize they must be prepared. Hard times ahead, Linda
I have a case of peanut butter in the freezer..on bottom, I just stack on top since it is like a table top.
Tastes great and I’ve had it in there for years
Regarding shelves being bare–I went to a store run by Krogers like an Aldis. I decided to go down each aisle and get what I needed due to the covid restrictions being discussed.
I have lots of food and have had for years…just needed to be sure–I really didn’t need anything and that surprised me. I use sweet pickles a lot for tuna, chicken and ham salad. Those little cans are just right now that Gene is gone. Well, the pickles were $2.10 and I have never paid that for them–can’t say what I paid since it’s been so long since I bought a case.
I have tuna from before the oil spill and haven’t bought since.
One thing about Rulers..they don’t always have the same items stocked. Like the little cans of tomato sauce for my meat loafs. But, I came home and had a case –didn’t remember buying.
I pray for our nation and our patriots during this time and hope all can survive.
I will share something I do now…it is working out great for me. I have so much ground beef—I prepare meals and divide in 2 cup Pillsbury plastics (3/$1) and the night before, I take out what I want for the next day.
Yesterday, I bought hamburger buns and froze them in ziplok bags in twos. I made sloppy joes and froze them in tiny containers enough for two sandwiches.
I have veg/beef soups/chili/spag.sauce/white beans/brown beans/taco sauce/macaroni strudle(I made up a dish)/cabbage beef soup (stolen recipe from Shoneys)…and it is so nice to have most of meal done.
Well, take care and try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.
Hi JayJay, oh YOU are a rainbow in someone’s cloud, I LOVE that!! It sounds like you are so prepared with small meals prepared and frozen. I like the hamburger bun trick and the hamburger frozen in small 2 cup portions. I love sloppy joes! That sounds so good right now! Stay well, stay safe, Linda
JayJay, I forgot to say, I never thought about freezing peanut butter, that’s a great tip! Linda
I am a dietary director for a hospital. I have been having trouble getting everything I order for the cafeteria as well as for the patients. It’s random too. One week, I can’t get Italian dressing, another week, I can’t get croissants. Last week, I couldn’t get fajita beef but there are always things out of stock. It’s to the point that I change the cafeteria menu more often than not. One employee asked me last week “what are we supposedly having for lunch today” LOL…well, it’s not really funny but you get it. Schools and restaurants are having these issues as well. If us “big buyers” are having such a hard time, I mean, there’s your sign, right? Better get it when you see it because it’s getting more difficult by the week!!
Hi Des Moines Daisy, wow, that would not be fun! You think your menu is this and then you have to switch it out. Fajita beef sounds good! LOL! We better get it while we can, is right! Praying you can get what you need for the hospital, thank you for what you do!! Linda
I know a lot of people think freeze dryers are too expensive but today we are freeze drying pumpkin. I bought a couple of small cans of pumpkin every grocery day over a few months till I had enough to freeze dry.We did the same thing with buffalo burger but now we can make meals by just buying small amounts of food over a longer time and the food stays good for years
Hi Arlene, I love hearing you have a freeze dryer and using it to feed your family. Food in general is expensive, so the price of the freeze dryer is actually reasonable for those who are staring out their food storage journey. I started a monthly delivery when Shelf Reliance now called Thrive Live started. I had purchased so many #10 cans from other companies but the monthly delivery was my way of saving money. So I started with #10 cans from Thrive Live then I went to pantry size size cans. However we can get our hands on affordable food and preserve it is a blessing. Good job, Linda
Hi Linda, I see the comments are from the past but thought I would write anyhow just in case you or others still read them.
I had to go gluten free a number of years ago, I never thought I would be able to eat again or store food for an emergency. Fortunately, when I quit feeling sorry for myself I started looking at what to do about it. Some of those things work for people without the problem. I have learned to collect recipes that allow me to use things I can grow i.e. zucchini, I use them for flour, pie filling, (they taste just like apples) what we call zapplesauce etc. I can also use garbanzo beans for flour, mayonnaise, hummus, black beans for pudding, etc… I can’t grow wheat but I can grow the heck out of zucchini LOL. To the readers out there, don’t ever think for a minute that just because your mom didn’t know and didn’t teach you that you cannot teach yourself. I just started canning my own food this month, I learned from you tube and books and I am 68 years old next month. Good luck to all and may God bless us as people and a nation.
Hi Jay, I republish posts after adding new stuff to them because so many people are still learning about emergency preparedness. I love comments because we all learn from one another. I love hearing you learned how to can this year, I love hearing this!! I admire how you learned to make flour out of other foods, what a great idea! Thanks for the reminder not to use the excuse I never learned from my mother how to preserve food. We can teach ourselves and others. It’s a skill everyone needs. Thank you for sharing, Linda
I saw the past posts too, but decided “what the heck”! Linda’s discussion about tortillas reminded me that I don’t need the special eqpt as I make quesadillas. All you need to keep on hand is some store-bought tortilla wraps (high fiber ones for me) & keep them refrigerated. I fill two of them by spreading approximately 1/3 of a can of refried beans on one tortilla, sprinkling some grated monterey jack cheese on top, then a couple of spoonfuls of salsa on top of all that. One can add other ingredients, but I don’t all the time. Sometimes I do add a pkg of flake style imitation crab meat before the cheese & salsa. Press the 2nd tortilla on top of all that, easily, so nothing squirts out. Then brown the whole quesadilla in a large enough pan that will hold your tortilla size & has some ghee or coconut oil or something like that melted first in the bottom for browning. Once one side of the whole quesadilla is browned, flip it over with a very large spatula & brown the 2nd side of the whole quesadilla until the cheese is melted. Remove & cut into pie-shaped pieces on a cutting board (I use scissors) & ENJOY! I usually get about 3 quesadillas out of one can of refried beans – enough for my hubby & I for dinner. I also usually have 2 tortilla wraps left over towards the next batch, which are put back in the fridge.
Hi Janet, I buy flour tortillas at Costco and open the bags and freeze six or so to a bag. Yes, I can make them, but convenience is everything right now at my age. There are so many ways you can make a meal out of tortillas. Mark would love the crab idea you shared. Bring out the salsa and we’re good to go for dinner. Love your thoughts, Linda
Funny Linda, that you should say that: “…but convenience is everything right now at my age.”
I’m 80; how about you????
Sorry – I just HAD to pick on you, Linda…
Hi Janet, I’m 73! LOL! You aren’t picking on me, I just had to be honest. LOL! Some days I’m worn out. Life is good when we can laugh together! Linda
I know this is a update and Thank you for this. I was in Walmart on Monday (June 12) and most the shelves were full. The prices of eggs in our area is down and the shelves were full. Milk prices are down and again the shelves were full, bread is also full. I keep an eye on the shelves all the time. I buy eggs from a friend but I still keep an eye on them too. So far so good. Thanks for the heads up and reminder.
HI June, I’m glad you mentioned eggs! I got 5 dozen eggs for $7.99 at Sam’s Club!!! Just a few months ago they got up to $19.99! I have to agree I can see filled shelves once again. The problem is everything is so expensive. thank goodness eggs and milk are down. Whew! I like to update posts because it helps us make new comments and read old comments as well. Plus I add more information to the posts. Life is good, Linda
Linda all good ideas for us to get it done. I have been canning tomatoes; a suggestion to those that may live where you can go into the fields and U pick me, my daughter go every year to do this and then i make my pasta sauce canned tomatoes salsa ketchup I have a stock of rice pasta I am a prepper and I cook from scratch I love it. My garden did so well so far I have been making zucchini relish so I will never have to buy it and I know what’s in each jar I put up. It is just a good feeling to have that piece of mind I’m so blessed to have the knowledge and strength to do this for my family fruit trees and berries are plentiful I have picked 3-4 gallons of blueberries from my 4 bushes Happy country gal here!!! Love all the input and I too know we are headed for hard times God Bless us all!
Hi Debbie, oh my gosh zucchini relish, I haven’t made that in years, it’s so yummy!! I love hearing you have canned tomatoes and that you have fruit trees and berries! I would love to be a country gal!! Thanks for sharing!!! I love this! Linda
Debbie: What kind of fertilizer do you use on your 4 blueberry bushes? We use Hollytone by Epsoma for acid-loving blueberries, but if you are talking non-acid loving, their regular berry fertilizer is wonderful, too.
You must live further south than we do. Our blueberries won’t be coming on for another 3 weeks or so, but they do look wonderful so far! Last year, we had so many berries that we begged friends to come pick, and ended up giving away about 55 quarts of various berries!! My freezer is still kind of packed with leftover berries from last year, actually, so I’d better get moving on some project so the freezer can accommodate the new ones!
We just got home from visiting our Amish “Family” in PA, where I was able to get enough free baby Zucchinis to make my Zucchini pickles that we use on sausages and “hotdogs”, whenver we break down to eat them…not too frequently on hotdogs, though. I was happily surprised that the nukes amounted to a totally doubled batch last night while I was slicing the “rounds” for the pickles. THAT was a huge blessing, as was the connection to a food distributor lady who handles food from all of the organic farmers in that area. She sold me 10# of grass-finished hamburger (from an organic farmer) for $4/lb. I almost fell over when she quoted me that price. Had we more room in our freezer, I would have purchased MORE! God is so good, so kind!! He keeps His eye on this little sparrow’s needs!!
Best always,
Joyce S.
Newark, NY
Jess I so far haven’t used any fertilizer on my bushes my husband did put some organic from our chickens that we had in our compost pile but I really think the pollinators did the job for me I planted lots of flower seeds and plants and my bees and butterflies are the workers I am so happy that you got that beef at that price it’s all good and yes God is good!!
HI Debbie thanks for sharing that you planted a lot of flowers, that is my secret as well. Well, it’s no secret, I suggest it all the time, you must plant flowers to bring the bees! Love this, Linda
HI Joyce, thanks for sharing your comment. You were truly blessed, God is so good, indeed! Linda
Linda, thank you for listing these necessary items, I hope we are all still working on whatever we can afford these days!!
A friend ran out of Keystone ground beef and she was texting me that it was over $20 a large can on Walmart.com. So I researched places to buy it, and we figured out the best price was from Keystone even with shipping prices, it was around half that ridiculous walmart price!! (I am really glad to have purchased this when it was around $7 a large can! The use by date is 2025, but I will keep it much longer than that).
By the way, I accidentally opened a can of Keystone ground beef, thinking I was opening some of their beef broth I had bought to try, so we made taco meat out of the canned ground beef and got 12 soft tacos with generous meat on each one.
Another suggestion comes to mind I’d like to share: we tried the oven ready lasagna noodles from Dollar Tree / 12 oz. box for $1.25 made a 9×13 pan of lasagna to the full. I hadn’t made lasagna forever because of the price of the lasagna noodles going up past my budget. And cottage cheese too, but we also had some cottage cheese that was on sale for $.99. It was a great treat to have some delish lasagna!!
HI Janet, oh Keystone canned meat is so good, I better go check out our Walmart here. You are right sometimes buying directly from the manufacturer can be cheaper. Now I want some soft ground beef tacos and lasagna too! Thanks for the heads up on the prices! Linda
How about good Ole Chef Boyardee stuff. Not fancy but decent tasting, and CHEAP compared to most other products. I even occasionally eat it right out of the can without heating. Goes good with rice, veggies, etc. Used to get it for about $.85 a can, but now over a dollar but still cheap. And keeps for YEARS, outdone only by Spam.
Also THANKS to people who indicate what area or state they live in so we can most meaningfully compare with prices and availability where we live. As an example, I’ve not seen any empty cases at my local Walmart for quite some time. I live in northern AZ.
Hi Eric, I live in Northern Utah, and the shelves have not been empty for some time. PLUS, eggs are way down in price. 5 dozen for $7.99 at Sam’s Club. I am frustrated with everything that is so overpriced right now, not just food. I haven’t had Chef Boyardee in ages, I better pick up a can or two, thanks for the reminder! Linda
We have a food bank here at our church. Although we are not eligible for the food bank the pastors wife loads up my daughters trunk of her car and sends all fruits and veggies that are left because I can them. I won’t let them be thrown out. That is totally wrong. She sent a big box of the little tomatoes and cooked them (we could not eat them fast enough before they went bad) and I caned a case of pint jars of tomato sauce. It will make lots of great spaghetti and be added to many foods.
Hi Jackie, what a blessing to be able to eat or can them. Someone should be blessed with a meal or two. Your Pastors wife is smart, no waste! Great story!! Linda