Taking Stock, Re-Stocking.

The holidays are over...the wedding has been celebrated...Alex had his birthday.  All my excuses for living in the bunker for the last month or so are done.  Time to refill the shelves.

Steve and I made pretty good progress yesterday with restocking the shelves...I still need to go to one or two stores to finish up...then we'll be good to go.  For us, this is an ideal time to get our bunker in order - there are no big financial commitments for at least a few weeks, so all of our household discretionary funds can be used for stocking back up.

Is it time for you to examine your preparedness?  If not, when?

Another Good Reason to Have a Bunker...

This month we not only had Steve's birthday, but also a wedding shower, an upcoming wedding AND Christmas. AND moving the newlyweds to Idaho. Oh, and Alex's birthday soon after. That's a lot of extra strain on finances. It's times like this that really make me glad that I don't have to spend too much on food and basic household supplies. I can stretch that food budget a bit to help with the other "incidentals".

An important aspect of this "rob Peter to pay Paul" is that we need to replace and restock as soon as it is feasible - that way we're still prepared for whatever life throws our way. And that's one thing you can count on....life will throw things.

Favorite Bunker Accessory

Tonight is our ward's "Fall Festival". In the past this has just involved games, costumes and trunk or treating. This year they've added a soup and bread cook-off. I think it's a brilliant idea - get something into the kids before the candy.


I signed up a couple of weeks ago to bring soup. I figured I'd make something fabulous and homemade...this morning I downgraded my plans to great and semi-homemade. If you can call "6 Can Tortilla Soup" semi- homemade. I did open all the cans by myself. At home. I decided that it would be safer ( cough, cough) and more hygienic (snork, snork) for me not to have my hands (hack, hack) all over anything.


The hardest thing about making this soup - especially when making a double batch (12 cans), is bringing all those cans upstairs from the bunker. Say hello to my little friend. I found this retired Safeway hand basket at the Hillsboro Goodwill. Little did I realize what a handy helper it would be.

How would you spend $15?

We've been in the Bunker for nearly a week and a half. Steve and I spent a little money yesterday at Costco on totally non-bunker related stuff (engagement pictures, etc..) We didn't spend ANY money on food there. I was slightly tempted, but really, $15 doesn't go very far at Costco.

I may go to the store today. Maybe. We will probably run out of milk this morning - so I could spent 3 or 4 dollars buying a weeks worth of milk. I'm trying to decide what else to buy....

What would you spend your $15 on??

One week in the Bunker

I was sure that being in the bunker this time would be a total slam dunk. After all, I had prior experience and this time we get to spend a little bit of money (if we choose to). Our bunker looked fully stocked. Ready, set go...yeah, go and get sick the very next day.

Here are some of my thoughts about being sick while in the bunker:

• I've been glad to have a freezer with plenty of homemade soup stocked in it.
• I feel less inclined to make things from scratch - I couldn't even smell the bread that I made on Thursday.
• I don't take over the counter remedies very often - so they are not part of my storage.

I was talking to Tia about whether or not buying some Sudafed (or other cold remedy) should count against the bunker. She wisely reminded me that having medications is on the list of things we should have in our emergency preparedness stuff.

I'm glad we're doing this again - and I'm happy(ish) that I will be able to take away a lesson this time...I think our family will be working on our first aid/medical supplies when we exit the bunker.

Hunker in the Bunker II

We were going to start tomorrow - but hey, I'm not going to the store today anyway, so today it is.

Are you in?

Nag, nag, nag.

I'm gearing up for another month in "The Bunker". I need to restock my freezer some and fill in a few gaps that haven't been replenished this month - while I've had double the mouths to feed.

We're hunkering down next Monday or Tuesday (when Stephanie and Cory leave).

Are you ready???

What's in YOUR Bunker?

So.....I've talked to a few of you about a new bunker challenge. Here's the rules:

• 30 days (I'm going from October 20-November 20 - adjust your dates as needed)


• $15 a week for grocery/household items (normal grocery store/Costco stuff..)


• we'll see who has the most money left over at the end (Tia's idea).

Now would be a good time to look at what your family eats, make up a sample menu, and then start stocking up. You've got 2 months.

Go.

When Life Gives You Pits....

...buy a cherry pitter. $14.99 at Fred Meyer. Works pretty much just like a hole punch. Easy as pie. Cherry pie.

Our cherry trees are providing a bumper crop this year. I need to let my neighbor know that the rest of the cherries on the trees are fair game. In the meantime, I'm thinking our 4th of July dessert will prominently feature cherries.

The Thinning of the Kale

I finally went out and thinned the kale yesterday. I pulled up lots of plants - but before tossing them in the yard waste can I cut their leaves off.

Thanks to Pat for the suggestion of just rinsing, cutting them up and freezing them. That's my kind of preserving. It only has one more step than what I do with my blueberries. I can handle that.

In honor of the harvested kale I believe I will make some Zuppa Toscana.

Out of the Bunker

Still Life, With Fruit.

We made it. Thirty-one days in the Bunker. No trips to the grocery store.

How did we do? For the most part, just fine. My list of things that I wish I had is surprisingly short. Sour cream, baked beans (I could have made some from scratch - I do have all the ingredients), fresh produce (we did what we could...) and ham. I know Alex missed milk - but he didn't really complain about the powdered milk...he just didn't drink much of it.

We could continue on with the experiment longer - but I think we've already gained valuable experience in what we need to survive (A secret stash of chocolate helps).

I saved up a lot money from my household budget...I now need to restock...look out Costco, here we come.

Kitchen Science

We finished off a container of honey a couple of days ago - so I needed more. I have 2 half gallon containers of honey in our food storage - one was newish, the other oldish. The oldish one was nearly completely crystallized. I sort of dreaded spending a lot of time gently heating it so that the crystals would dissolve.

Then I had an idea. I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of it - but it still seemed pretty genius to me...put it in a crockpot. I put 3 jar rings in the bottom, loosened the lid on the honey, placed the honey container on top of the rings, then just filled it up with hot water and turned the dang thing to low. Worked like a charm. It took about 4 hours - give or take. I didn't have to constantly watch it - about once an hour I took it out and shook it up a little to see how it was doing.

Wahoo. Clear honey!

Hunker in the Bunker report

Day 16

We're past the half-way mark now. Supplies are holding out nicely - besides fresh milk and produce we're surviving quite well. I don't miss the milk (the boys might) - I do miss the produce (the boys might not).

Meal planning for a month at a time was a little challenging at planning time, but it has saved me a lot more time and questions like "what's for dinner" are no longer a challenge. Have we stuck completely to the menu? No. But we have used it for nearly all of out dinners so far.

There have been some side benefits. We have used less gas this month - no shopping trips for food. Nathan told me he still has the same $3 in his wallet that he had at the beginning of the month. Danny has fallen in love with my homemade bread.

I am looking forward to June 1st. Maybe I'll start working on my grocery list next week.

Make A Mix

I've been making bread at least every other day. At least. In a effort to make it less of an effort, I decided to put together all the dry ingredients for our favorite bread. Now, when I have to make bread, I just pour the liquid ingredients in the bread machine, add the dry mix and top with yeast. After 2 1/2 hours in the bread machine the dough is ready to rise in pans for an hour, then bake at 350' for 30 minutes. Yes, 4 hours from start to finish, but the actual time I have to put in is about 10 minutes. Not too bad.

ONE MORE FABULOUS BREAD RECIPE TO TRY

Since we've all been somewhat focused on bread lately, I offer this wonderful easy & very quick homemade bread recipe. START TO FINISH IN 1 HOUR! Really! This makes a very light & tasty bread whether you make it with white 'bread flour' or 100% whole wheat or 1/2 & 1/2. It rises fully and has a very tender texture. My dear friend Beth makes it and I spent time with her watching the method. EASY/SHMEZY! I use my Bosch (as does she), but it's not required. Everything goes into the bowl all at once! So here's the recipe & I'd love to hear how you all like it.

10 1/2 cups white BREAD FLOUR (NOT all-purpose)

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon salt

3 rounded tablespoons SAF-INSTANT YEAST (must be saf instant)

2 eggs OR 3 Tablespoons liquid lecithin *

4 cups HOT tap water

Mix dry ingredients. Add eggs or lecithin and water. Mix for 1 minute & check consistency. If dough is too dry, add more water. Dough should be very sticky. Mix for 5 minutes. (do NOT add flour to the dough after it has finished mixing.) Spray counter & pans with Pam vegetable spray. Shape loaves & cover with dish towel. Let raise 25 minutes. Bake at 350' for 25 minutes. This recipe makes four loaves of bread.

*Squeeze or pour approximately 3 tablespoons of lecithin directly into the bowl...3 puddles approximately a 'quarter' size....Do not measure.

For whole wheat bread, use the same recipe but add one cup of applesauce as part of the hot tap water & add 1 additional tablespoon of lecithin (but not eggs). Mix for 10 minutes.

Lecithin is available at health food stores and Bosch/food store & bread making equipment stores. Check google for your local source.

Dad has fallen in love with this bread & just raves about it all the time.....and how easy can it be?

You cannot taste the applesauce in the whole wheat, but it does give it a very moist, tender texture.

Good luck!

ONE MORE THING! WE WISH YOU MOMS A VERY HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY & KNOW YOU ARE LOVED MORE THAN YOU CAN KNOW. HAVE A TERRIFIC DAY!

Hunker in the Bunker report

It's been one week.

One week in the bunker. Prudence dictates that we take stock of our supplies.

Hmmm... we still have plenty of nearly everything. Nearly. We're a little lower on butter than I'd like to be - but as long as we're careful we should do just fine. I definitely think twice about using recipes that call for a lot of butter.

There are some things that I miss. They all fall under the heading of fresh produce. Bananas. Apples. Leafy greens. Tomatoes.

I have to be more aware of certain foods getting low - if I'm low on bread, I need to make more - sooner rather than later. I also need to keep an eye on how much milk is in the jug.

3 more weeks to go.

Hunker in the Bunker report

(shhh. keep your voice down).

Day 4 in the bunker.

Supplies are holding out well. We shared a meal made with some of our storage yesterday with a young mother and her children (Cory is in Washington D.C. - secret mission). Tonight we have guests again. How long will our food hold out?

Actually, we're doing fine so far. That's not too surprising - I'll be more interested in seeing how we are doing after a couple of weeks of no shopping.

I can already see that we are going through jam at a much higher rate than previously. That's due to the increased frequency of having warm, homemade bread coming out of the oven. Butter and honey are likewise going a little faster. I'm a little concerned about the butter. When it's gone, it's gone.

A friend of mine at church told me that she had ordered a can of dehydrated butter. It sounds weird, but hey...if it's any good I'd be willing to give it a go. Unfortunately she hasn't opened it to try it out. Has anyone else tried it? I'd like to know if it's any good...or just a good "idea" (better in thought than in actual practice).

And so it begins....

Day 1

In the bunker. Our supplies are cut off. We now have to make do with what we have. I can already tell I'm going to miss fresh produce. Hopefully that will give me more incentive to work on the garden - really try and get stuff to grow.

Tonight's menu: Indonesian pork roast, rice, Chinese vegetables.

TVP Thursday

(I made this meal on Thursday)

The ingredients.

Vegetarian Black Beans and Rice.

Into one medium size pot add:
1 can black beans
1 can pureed black beans
2 bay leaves
a handful each of dried onions and dried peppers
about a cup of sausage TVP
about a cup of water - maybe a cup and a half

Bring to a boil and then simmer for a little while. Serve over rice.

The verdict:

Alex just kept going back for more. I liked it a lot. Steve liked it a lot. Nathan liked it. Danny wouldn't try it (try not to be too shocked - he did eat a lot of the Honey-Wheat Bushman's Bread). I usually make black beans and rice with regular sausage (Jimmy Dean), but found that I didn't miss the "real" sausage at all. This one's a winner.

This recipe for black beans and rice was made completely with food storage items.

$12.37

A week from tomorrow we'll be starting our month long, self imposed food storage odyssey.

I have $12.37 left from last week's grocery money...I need to spend it by tomorrow.

What groceries would you buy if you only had $12.37?