Everyone eats different foods and different amounts of various foods. Knowing how much to store depends on many things including the space you have to store food in and what foods your family eats. Before stocking up consider how you will store the extra food you buy. Do you have plenty of freezer room and a back-up plan in case the electricity goes out? Will you be canning all the food you store? Maybe you will dehydrate your extra food or use a root cellar. Whatever method you choose, make sure it works for your situation. After all storing food is useless if you will not use the items you store.
There are some general guidelines from the FDA to help get you started, but the reality is you will have to do your homework. Some things you may not use at all and others you may use more of. Some things you will need to buy and some you can grow. Anyone can stock up, even if you live in an apartment.
There are different times of the year when it is best to stock up on certain things because they can be found on sale. Here are some yearly averages according to the FDA. These are based on one adult, so multiply this by the number of people in your family to get a better idea of what you will need.
Meat – 200 pounds per year per person.
Flour – 300 pounds per year per person.
Sugar, honey or other sweeteners – 60 pounds per year per person.
Fats or oils – 60 pounds per year per person.
Salt – 5 pounds per year per person.
Powdered milk – 75 pounds per year per person.
Water – 375 gallons per year per person.
Vegetables and fruits – 700 pounds per year per person.
While this is not an end all of what you need, it is a starting point. It is a way to get you thinking about what you may need and a way for you to save some green at the grocery store. How you ask? By buying in bulk when food is in season or by growing your own. Let’s say you grew 50 pounds of green beans this summer. Well, subtract 50 pounds from the estimated 700 pounds of fruits and vegetables if you canned them all. If you bought that 50 pounds of green beans canned you would have spent between $25 and $50 depending on the brand you bought.
While the initial investment to get set up preserving and storing your own food may seem like it doesn’t save anything, in the end, you will come out ahead and best of all, be prepared for almost any emergency that comes your way from being snowed in to being short on cash.
Filed under Food Storage Chart, Tips For Stocking Up by on Dec 27th, 2009. Comment. 
Stevia is known for its super sweet leaves which can be used in place of sugar. Some people do not like the “plant” taste or seeing the leaf in their drinks, desserts, etc., so there is another option, liquid stevia.
As with all herbs, harvest the stevia leaves by cutting the stems back early in the morning so the sugar content is high. This is best done as soon as the dew begins to dry.
Try to grow your stevia plant so the soil does not splash up on the leaves. This can be done by using mulch on top of the soil. The reason for this is so the oils do not wash off the leaves during cleaning. If the plant material is clean there is no need to do anything except quickly rinse the leaves under cold running water to remove any dust.
Once the leaves are picked and you make sure they are clean, shake them dry, fill a small container about half full with the leaves. A small canning jar with a plastic lid works great for this.
Cover the leaves with Everclear or Vodka. Be sure to fill the container to the top with the alcohol. All of the plant material needs to be covered with the alcohol.
Put the plastic lid on, shake it up and sit it in a cool, dark place. Shake the container once a day if possible. You can add more leaves as time goes on. Just make sure the first leaves you added are completely saturated with alcohol.
Be sure to date your bottle so you know when a month has elapsed. At this time, strain the leaves from the liquid. You may want to dump the contents through cheesecloth. Squeeze all the liquid from the leaves, place the liquid back into a glass bottle with a plastic lid and use.
If the taste is not sweet enough for you, you can add more stevia leaves to the strained liquid. I have found that once you add fresh stevia leaves three or four times, the alcohol taste and smell disappear and the product is more pleasing to the taste buds straight out of the jar.
There are many stevia conversion charts online that you can look at. Remember to start with a small amount and work up to taste. Here are some basic conversions.
2 teaspoons of sugar – use ¼ teaspoon stevia
¼ cup sugar – use ½ teaspoon stevia
1/3 cup sugar – use ¾ teaspoon stevia
½ cup sugar – use 1 ¼ teaspoons stevia
¾ cup sugar – use 1 ¾ teaspoons stevia
1 cup sugar – use 2 ½ teaspoons stevia
Filed under Herbs and Spices, Homemade Extracts by on Nov 7th, 2009. 53 Comments.
I really expect the winter months to be bad this year due to increasing prices and the fact that the stores are already having bare shelves. With the produce season in full swing, prices should be coming down and store shelves should be fully stocked. Even though no one really knows what lies ahead it is better to be prepared than to do without.
So far I have put up quite a bit for winter. I go out early every morning to see what is available to can, freeze or dehydrate for that day. Last night I was blessed with ten dozen canning jars – that makes almost 500 jars! I only need 1,000 more! I just might make it.
Here is what we have put up for winter so far – and the list grows daily.
6 half pints of rose jelly
2 half pints of rose honey
2 two pound packages of honey wheat bread
2 one and a half pound packages of honey wheat bread
1 package of orange sugar cookies
4 pacakges of peanut butter and oatmeal (mixed flavors) cookies
4 packages of dinner rolls
1 pacakage of honey spice cookies
4 pounds of noodles
3 quarts plus 1 1/2 pints of chicken broth
5 pints plus one half pint of strawberries
1 pint spinach
3 half pound pacakges of sugar snap peas
1 pint of carrots
1 pint plus 14 four ounce jars of grape jelly
7 pints of tomato juice
7 four ounce jars plus 1 6 oz. jar of lemon balm and lemon verbena jelly
1 half gallon of mixed herb vinegar which I will divide up once it is ready
1 pint black stem peppermint leaves
2 pints sage leaves
1 quart lavender flowers
1 quart chocolate mint – still filling the jar
1 pint lime balm – still filling the jar
1 pint rosemary
2 pints tarragon
1 pint oregano – still filling the jar
I have raisins in the dehydrator. I have no idea how many I will get but I am guessing around a pint. I may package these in little zip bags to make division easier.
I am heading back outside now to see if there are anymore ripe strawberries or any vegetables ready to harvest.
Sheri
Filed under Canning, Dehydrating, Food Preservation, Freezing by on Oct 31st, 2009. Comment.
Keep an eye on this post if you want to know what else we are adding to the stockpile. The top number will be raised and all new items we can added in as the season progresses.
The canning season is indeed in full swing here at Exotic Gardening Farms and Wildlife Habitat. Last winter was a bad one for high bills and the food we canned in 2008 was a real life saver, so here we go again! Here is what we have so far.
Apple juice 1-pint
Apple pie filling 2-pint jars
Apples in red hot sauce 1-pint jar
Applesauce 5-pint jars
BBQ Sauce 3-pint jars
Blueberries 2-4 ounce jars
Blueberries in light syrup 3-4 ounce jars and 1-half pint jar
Cherries 1-half pint jar
Cherry juice 2- half pint jars
Chicken broth – from our own chickens 1-quart jar
Chicken wing sauce 1-pint jar
Chocolate raspberry sundae topper 7-pint jars
Cinnamon applesauce 3-pint jars
Cinnamon chocolate mint fruit cocktail 5-pint jars
Cinnamon pears 6-pint jars
Dehydrated potatoes 2 gallon jars
Grape jelly 1-pint jar and 7-4 ounce jars
Grape juice 8-quart jars, 2-pint and a half jars and 6-pint jars.
Green Beans 4-quart jars
Green Tomatoes 1 quart jar
Honey cinnamon pecan peaches 1-pint jar
Ketchup 2-pint jars
Lemon balm and lemon verbena jelly 7-4 ounce jars and 1-cup jar
Marachino cherries 6-4 ounce jars and 4-half pint jars
Marachino cherry juice 2-4ounce jars and 3-half pint jars
Mixed berry preserves 1- cup and a half jar
Mixed herb vinegar 6-4 ounce jars and 2- half pint jars
Orange marmalade 1-cup and a half jar
Passion fruit mojito 1-quart jar
Peaches 4-quart jars
Pear juice 1- quart jar and 6-pint jars
Pear sauce 3-pint jars
Pears 11-pint jars
Pineapple, banana and orange fruit spread 1-cup jar
Pineapple, banana and passion fruit spread 1-cup jar
Plums 4-quart jars and 1-half pint jar
Pomegranite juice 3-quart jars
Potatoes 21-quart jars
Raspberries in light syrup 5-half pint jars
Raspberry and Mulberry Vinegar 1-half pint jar
Raspberry syrup 4-half pint jars
Raspberry vinegar 4-half pint jars
Roasted garlic Italian vinegrette 2- cup and a half jar
Rose petal jelly 6-half pint jars
Seasoned tomato sauce 2-quarts, 1-half pint jar
Seasoned tomato sauce plus basil 1-pint jar
Strawberries 2-pint jars
Strawberry fruit spread 1-quart jar
Strawberry juice 1-pint jar and 1-4 ounce jar
Strawberry/raspberry lemonade concentrate 6-pint jars
Taco sauce 5-4 ounce jars and 1-pint jar
Thai hot and sweet dipping sauce 5-pint jars
Tomato Juice 25-quart jars, 5-pint and a half jars, 15-pint jars, 8-cup and a half jars and 1-half pint jar.
Tomato sauce 2-quart jars, 1-4 ounce jar and 1-half pint jar
Tomato soup 11-quart jars
We grow a lot of the food we put up ourselves, sometimes we buy some when it is on sale or we are given the chance to pick food that someone else has grown. This list does not include the numerous spices, teas and other such items that are dehydrated and prepared in our kitchen.
Filed under Food Preservation by on Oct 30th, 2009. Comment.
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