SENSIBLE STOCKING & STORING
(Page 3 of 5)
August/September 1997
By Jay P. Curry
A simple way to figure a use cycle of non-food items is to date the package when opened, and note the date when used up. A bar of soap may only last two weeks in your house. Thirteen weeks divided by two equals six and one half or seven bars of soap for three months. Let the kids help. By making a game of it, they will help you gather the usage information. Remember a sponge with a slit cut into its side (like a sandwich roll) is a great way to use the slivers of soap. Kids love the new bath toy. (Some adults will too!) This might be a good time to remind you that some paper products should be included in your storage plan such as toilet paper and feminine hygiene products.
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Saving Money
With your "shopping list" now developed, check it against what you have on hand. You'll purchase or prepare those items still on the list. Buy dry goods in bulk and package them at home using the size container that fits your needs. Buy canned goods in case lots at their lowest per-unit cost. Now, instead of shopping at the store to replenish the kitchen cabinets for your day to day needs, you restock from your personal stores. By breaking ingredients down to basics, you can reduce the number of items you have to store. This will give you the greatest flexibility in food preparation. Example: Flour stored as a biscuit mix limits the way you can use it. Flour can be used in hundreds of ways, not to mention the one that follows the dreaded news, at nine in the evening, "Mommy I need two dozen cupcakes for the party at school:" The level to which you go back to basics is your choice. What are a little flour, sugar, and cupcake papers if you have planned correctly? As a gardener you may plant, let's say, green beans. No matter what the crop does, boom or bust, you know where you stand depending on your production. It doesn't matter what method of storage you use. Dry, can, or freeze your produce. When necessary, additional fresh or prepackaged items can be purchased to meet the requirements of your storage system.
Here's a true story that will help illustrate "homemade" savings. We make our own bread crumbs. Using odd pieces of bread, the bread that gets flattened in the freezer or goes stale (that fictional Mr. Nobody forgot to close the bag), avoids wasting resources. Our kids are happy to help when we make bread crumbs. They know when there are enough crumbs, there will be Salisbury steak to eat. (That is not the only thing we make with bread crumbs, but it is their favorite.) One day a neighbor asked to borrow two cups of bread crumbs, which we gladly provided. A week or so later, her son brought us a box of store-bought crumbs that was priced at $2.68. This morning we made six cups of crumbs, from rolls we paid 50 cents for. When reduced into crumbs they only take one-sixth the space. For additional savings, extend this idea to saving vegetable and meat trimmings in designated containers in the freezer for making homemade soup stock.
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