Holiday Prepping!

[Amish Country]

I find the Holidays a wonderful time filled with prepping opportunities!

Farm stands have winter squash and pumpkins on sale. (They really get low after Thanks Giving).

Grocery Stores have frozen turkeys on sale at ridiculously low prices. Some stores even give them away if a customer spends enough at the store and uses their store card. It's hard to beat free. I keep one in the fridge defrosting while the one just cooked is being pressure canned and turned into vegetable enriched broth also for canning or an inexpensive meal. Potatoes and other root vegetables are on sale, ease to buy in bulk and may keep for months in cold dark basement.

Department Stores and catalogs have decent winter clothes on sale. We have to work outside and warm, sturdy clothes and boots are must and just don't last forever.

Christmas is coming ant that means that candles will be on sale in the craft stores .

 

[Amish Country]

Re: Holiday Prepping!

It is the 23rd of October and the Hindu religion is celebrating the Diwali, the Festival of lights. The celebration is continuing through this weekend in my area. The Indian grocery store in my area is having sales. The one I go to sells grains, nice selection of rice, a multitude of beans and lentils, bean, nut and rice flours, a nice assortment of nuts, ghee (shelf safe clarified butter), dates, fresh vegetables and spices.

 

[Amish Country]

Re: Holiday Prepping!

Thanks giving is a busy time. It also offers wonderful opportunities to save on food for my family. I just bought a frozen turkey for $.59 a pound! Was it organic, free range, antibiotic free? I highly doubt it. Home canned in rich turkey stock it will probably be hard to tell the difference. In the past I have also purchased large frozen turkeys and had the butcher cut them in half with a band saw to make for more manageable portions and meal planing.

Sweet potatoes are now as inexpensive as I have seen them in ages, well almost as cheap as last Thanksgiving. Two or three 20 pound cases will provide a lot of side dishes for my family. Last year I stored the potatoes in a cool dark corner in the basement. They kept until spring. Every so often they had to be checked for spoilage. Some were lost but at the price it was worth the investment.

Winter squash can be stored like the sweet potatoes. Like pumpkins after Halloween their price tends to drop significantly right after the Thanks Giving holiday. Different varieties have different self life and must be checked regularly. Turkey Neck and Blue Hubbard squash seem to last the longest in cold, dark (nonrefrigerated) storage. Their taste changes from sweeter to starchy the longer they are stored.

Canned and frozen vegetables can be found in my area for under $.50 a can and a dollar a bag. I like to make sure the cans have at least a two year shelf life.

Savories like stuffing in sealed pouches are on sale. They are shelf safe, easy to prepare and the family loves them.

Other shelf safe Thanks Giving foods that I pick up extra on sale are canned cream soups, crunchy fried onions, cranberry sauce. Green bean casserole can be served on days other than Thanks Giving and Christmas. Casseroles are making a come back to my dinner table. They are inexpensive, easy to make, a good way to use up left over meats and vegetables, filling and with a little effort taste good. It is really not that hard to mix creamed soup with cooked: pasta, rice or sliced potatoes and left over cooked meat and vegetables in a casserole dish and bake it. A topping of seasoned bread crumbs, melted butter and grated Parmesan cheese doesn't hurt either.

These will help fill out and spice up meals for several months after the holiday.