How's your 3-month supply going?

I still have work to do on my 3-month supply--where ideally you have 3 months worth of meals that you eat on a regular basis anyway. I tend to use up my 3 month supply supplies, which tends to be really good on the rotation side but not-so-good on the storage side....

But, if there were an immediate quarantine or something that required using what I have on hand, I have some supplies, and other recipes that probably wouldn't be quite as good, but edible if I had to use only what I had for awhile. (Notice, I didn't say 3 months...)

--One meal that I have worked into my rotation is shepherd's pie, which I describe in a post on my food storage blog here. Talk about eaaasssssyyyyyy. Yeah, that's the way I like it. Thing is, my family is partial to it as well, and the Dinty Moore stew seems to disappear more often than I'd like. If you try this, make sure that your family likes the brands you are using--we tried a variation on the theme years ago with stew on potatoes with a brand my husband didn't like, and we didn't try anything like it again for years.

--Ok, yay, when I went to link the post above, I realized that in that same post I just linked to, there are links about rice and beans, and bread recipes, and the Spam-fried rice recipe, all of which I would also incorporate in my 3 month plan. So if you go over there and stay awhile I understand. For this post, I just wanted to name a few easy recipes that probably wouldn't be quite as good in an emergency situation, but that would be really good for variety if resources were limited:

--Curry and rice. First, I have to say that curry is probably my favorite flavor eveeerrr. (As in, I think I like it better than chocolate. Yeah, pretty much.)

Usually it would consist of browned ground turkey or beef, can(s) of cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup, and curry powder. That's it. Just brown the meat, breaking it up as you go. After it's fully cooked, add the cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup, water to your desired consistency, and curry powder to your taste, and you are done once it is heated through. Put it over rice.

However, curry still tastes like curry without the meat, and in a pinch you could eat the sauce meatless. We tend to buy the bulk ground turkey meat, brown it, and freeze it in one-pound portions to add to meals. I really like to see little bags of meat ready to use in my freezer. Now, normally I wouldn't say to trust in something that requires refrigeration, but as I say, it can be done in a meatless fashion. And if you live somewhere like Idaho, and you need your 3 month supply during one of the many months of winter, you can stick your meat outside in your garage or other predator-free location, and it will keep. It was 4 degrees outside this morning, with a -5 windchill. Frosty....

--Meatless spaghetti and sauce. Really, I probably needn't have mentioned this one, but it makes me feel good to see more ideas on the list. If you have enough meat in your freezer (and/or garage) to add, all the better....

--Pasta + cream of (insert flavor here) soup + canned meat +vegetable. I'm purposely being vague here because I don't really do this right now, but I totally would if I was looking for something different to eat and all I had was what was on my shelves. I'm not really a tuna person, but I have a couple of cans hanging around. What I lack is a knowledge of any kind of spices would go well with this combination, but pretty much if you have a can of cream of whatever and some pasta, you will end up with something filling. Please don't hesitate to leave comments that would make this combination more appetizing...

--Chili on baked potatoes is a favorite around here. If you have olives and cheese to add, all the better, but chili on potatoes is pretty filling all by itself. I try to keep my potatoes cold enough that the eyes don't get all scary, but I am not always successful with their storage. Makes me wonder how people make them last all winter....

So how about you? I find that when I plan for the 3 month rotation (as I said, still very much a work in progress) I tend to concentrate on the dinner-type meals. However, due to the fact that there is a wonderful sale on oatmeal at Albertsons this week (see details here) I have recently acquired more supplies to go towards breakfasts.

I mention the above because I was thinking about what I would have in the way of "regular meals" if there were a quarantine or something today. When I think about 12 weeks, with 7 different meals, each used once a week, I try to think of the least expensive, fewest ingredient meals I can, because 3 months of food can be expensive to acquire. I have incorporated some meals that use longer term supplies into my rotation as well, but really, I have a lot of work to do. What about you? If you have easy 3-month meals to share, please feel free to leave a comment. You never know how many people you'll be helping.... :)

Just one example...

Sometimes it's evident that things are not going well economically. There are the obvious occurrences, like the huge unfortunate situation of home foreclosures across the nation. There is the bailout of a major car company. But sometimes, you have to be on the inside to see that sales are down even in the local national chainstore....

No, I'm not on the inside at the local national chainstore, but leading up to the holidays in December, I was talking to someone who is. According to memory, and from what I understand, the procedure at the store is to keep track of daily sales and then to compare those sales to the sales made on the same date of the previous year. The day that we were discussing, a day that you would expect to be full of sales because of its proximity to the holidays, sales were down 13% from the previous year. And employees' hours were being cut during the same time period. Granted, it is my understanding that the hours would go back up after the holiday season, but it seemed a little backwards to me if everything is going well--wouldn't it be expected that hours would go up in what would normally be considered a peak buying period? And however they calculate their areas, the person that I was talking to indicated that the store we were discussing was actually doing better than other stores to which they are compared.

Personally, I found this information alarming. If you can't afford to shop at the local national chainstore, then you don't have many choices left, and my concern is that if this chain is struggling, then the next step I would think is coming is that its prices will (continue to) go up to make up for lost revenue in sales.

Please do what you can according to what you can afford to get some emergency supplies in storage. Perhaps it will not be unemployment/underemployment that will be the reason that you find that you are glad that you put some food away--it may be a natural disaster, a quarantine, a truckers' strike, higher food prices, a terrorist incident that disrupts the food supply chain, or someone else's food emergency that will either leave you glad that you put away supplies, or unhappy that you have not prepared enough. I am not trying to be an alarmist, or trying to predict anything. I am just pointing out that there are so many things that could happen to make emergency supplies necessary, that it just makes sense to put aside extra of what you would eat/use anyway just in case you find yourself in one of these, or any other emergency situation. Emergencies don't always happen to someone else. Just ask someone who has experienced one.

If you are fortunate to have enough to share, I would ask you to do what you can for those affected by the earthquake in Haiti. I have lived in Haiti, and it hurts to see and hear what is happening there.

Gotta love perpetuation when it comes to food....

I was thinking about my food storage the other day, and wondering how long what I have will last, and what I really know how to make with the basic staples, and just how much variety I really have planned out when it comes to meals, among other things. Then I had a discussion with a preparedness expert I know, and when I mentioned that none of it would last forever (ok, I was really thinking about convenient things like, oh, canned meat) was reminded that I'll be able to grow things in the garden with seeds we've put aside. And that really does give me hope.

Then today, I got my hands on some literature that gives information about gardening classes and a community garden that was headed, "Want to grow your own backyard garden but don't have a backyard?", immediately followed by "Come to the Idaho Falls Community Gardens". So I called the number listed to see if there would be any objection to advertising their info on this blog (as I figured, there was no problem) and found out that there are actually 3 community gardens in Idaho Falls. Gardeners' registration is not until April 10, 2010, but between now and then there are numerous free classes, like "Basics of Vegetable Gardening in Southeastern Idaho", and "Get Growing: Starting and Growing Seedlings Indoors". The full list can be found here. You can access the main menu here.

I realize that many people already have room for gardening, but they may be interested in the classes offered. Others may have the expertise in gardening, but no room to put that expertise to use. And there may be others who are interested in the whole package of information and garden plot. Whatever the case, the information is there if you are interested in learning to garden, or simply in improving your gardening skills.

If there are other community gardens that you know of in other areas of Idaho, please let me know, and I will post the information. If you are in another state, I would venture to guess that the moderators of your state site would love to receive any information on gardening and community gardens that you are willing to share.

Well, back to my discussion on meat and food storage. Unfortunately, chickens are still not legal where I live. But in a weird twist, when I got the mail today I found an advertisement for a free trial issue for "Backyard Poultry", addressed to me personally. I could wonder how my interest in raising chickens got past this blog and on to someone's mailing list--or I could just wonder if people really hug their chickens, as it asks, "Have you hugged your chicken today?" above my name and address. I would have a hard time getting attached to my chickens, unless I was only raising them for the eggs...