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Posted: 8/7/2014 10:49:25 AM EDT
OK, well not much of a challenge, at least not for us.
Since the Mrs is a stay at home mom, we are homeschooling our 8 year old and I have an office at home, we don't need to leave for much. However, I usually drive to town once a week or so for groceries. With all the ebola crap starting up, flu season coming and we have a 2.5 month old baby, we want to self isolate as much as possible this year, and if ebola looks at ALL like it is spreading, we are hunkering down. Again, we can so easily because our income does not depend on me leaving. We have a list of items we need to get that would allow us to last until spring w/o re-supply. Biggest challenge is fresh produce and dairy. We have plenty of powdered/canned milk. It works great for cooking, but  for drinking. We will freeze as much fresh as I can fit in the freezer. We drink about a gallon a week, so we should last a while.Anyway, what this will be and what is isn't: Will be:
Anyway, we are cheating a bit because we will be doing this after our annual fall stockup. Also, the chickens will be producing eggs within the next couple weeks, and the garden is giving us food. As I mentioned, we may push it to 2 months if it is too "easy". I will update when we start (in a week or 2), and keep things updated as we go. Feel free to join us in this challenge! No need to quit work, just no stopping for supper or groceries! |
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Posted: 8/7/2014 12:08:25 PM EDT
[#1]
Tagged.
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Posted: 8/7/2014 12:25:04 PM EDT
[#2]
weekly video updates?
Great idea, a bunch of youtubers did something close to this last summer. Here was one of the more organized: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2cLVMJiux-l5QjFOchjuruMwCvO2R6pV |
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Posted: 8/7/2014 12:35:10 PM EDT
[#3]
you should start today; because you never know.
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Posted: 8/7/2014 1:05:08 PM EDT
[#4]
Quote HistoryQuoted: you should start today; because you never know. Don't know if I will do vids, but I may do some pics! Honestly, the first couple weeks we won't even notice, until our supply of fresh lettuce runs out.
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Posted: 8/7/2014 7:10:31 PM EDT
[#5]
in on one for cheating
Good luck! |
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Posted: 8/7/2014 7:46:38 PM EDT
[#6]
tagged....
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Posted: 8/7/2014 9:15:56 PM EDT
[#7]
This is not a bad exercise for anyone. Most talk (and maybe think) about what may happen and plan in their minds but real life is a bitch especially when there are no other options. Try to put your plan in place (assuming that there really is a plan) and work through the problems that arise..... just saying; No 'redo' when a SHTF really happens ......
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Posted: 8/7/2014 10:46:16 PM EDT
[#8]
Not sure I would want to deplete my supplies if, as you suggest, events unfold in an unexpected but decidedly unpleasant fashion with the Ebola issue. I like the idea, though. It definitely would point out the holes in supplies/preps and give you an opportunity to fix them in the relative calmness of what passes for "normal" times.
Obviously, not everyone can isolate themselves for a month. By that, I mean that if all the utility workers isolated themselves for a month, sometime between a couple of days and a couple of weeks we would not have electricity, water, sewer, and all those other incidentals that are required for life in the city. And, it might take a while before those utilities are restarted once the pandemic was controlled. Similarly, if all the truck drivers ever get the idea that it's dangerous to be on the road, then there is no re-supply and the whole country comes to a screeching halt within a few days to a few weeks. All that being said, a month is probably a reasonable amount of time to have as a goal to be on one's own without resupply. Usually with most regional disruptions like hurricanes, groups of tornadoes, earthquakes, etc. there is a period of time that is required for immediate assessment and emergency response. Then, after the situation is stabilized, recovery operations begin. That can take from days to weeks. I suspect the way a pandemic would play out is like the old comment about how people go bankrupt - slowly at first, then all at once. If it's caught early enough and mitigations put in place quick enough, the inconvenience time period will also likely be short. In the case of Ebola, some 60% of those that contracted it will be dead and since the incubation is between 2 and 21 days, after a month of quarantine for those that have it, in theory, noone else will be catching it. In theory. But even beyond the big scary Ebola craze, just being able to avoid a flu pandemic as happened in 2009 would be a nice position to be in. |
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Posted: 8/7/2014 10:51:35 PM EDT
[#9]
I predict you'll be using Amazon Prime a lot
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Posted: 8/7/2014 11:38:04 PM EDT
[#10]
I have substantially more than 1 kid to worry about so food and other consumables for 1 month is a real challenge.
Assuming the electricity stays on.... Assuming UPS can deliver items as needed 
We'll run out of Toilet paper in 1 week and diapers before that.  I've raided my deep storage buckets too much to 'save the day' as Prepared Dad and have failed to replenish them
Been looking at all the LED candles that run on 2 AA eneloop batteries....hmmm. seems like the kids broke most of them and the batteries are missing. 
Dog food.... yeah about 1 month then the dog will have to eat squirrels. Feminine items (ahem). yeah, maybe 1 month's worth. I dunno, need to talk with the mrs.... fruit, veggies, fresh eggs.... that's the real problem for us. Beans and rice are easy but after 3 similar meals it gets old fast. I could see us devouring all flours, baking every last cake, cookie, and brownie mix within 2 weeks and then doing weird rice and left over concoctions. We've friends with chickens - but have thought of getting a dozen of our own. We easily eat 7-8 eggs per day in breakfast and cooking. Vitamins.... N95 masks....enough for 1 month of use (thanks to the bird flu scare 5 years ago). Those things never go bad.... Fortunately thanks to the old bird flu scare of the early 2000s, every industry has drawn up contingency plans for at-home workers and N95 Mask, glove use mandates... |
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Posted: 8/8/2014 12:25:29 AM EDT
[#11]
Quoted:
Will be: [ul] I suggest making it a little more interesting: Add the stipulation that any visits to public places must be done in full MOPP gear.
BTW, belated congrats on the new addition to your family! 
Quoted:
Not sure I would want to deplete my supplies if, as you suggest, events unfold in an unexpected but decidedly unpleasant fashion with the Ebola issue. Then why not buy replacements as you consume the originals? Since this is only a test, there's no real reason to avoid buying stuff - just as long as you don't buy any items that you don't already have in reserve. If you make it the entire month without tapping into your replacements, you'll know that you're GTG. |
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Posted: 8/8/2014 11:40:09 AM EDT
[#12]
I wouldnt worry at all about milk. We dont need it. I used to store powdered milk but after reading up about how related it is to cancer, alergies and other health complications and doing a trail run I'm convinced that its all about selling me crap I'm better off without.
When it comes to babies, going natural is the best, healthiest thing anyway. We did the mistake with my first son, who only breastfed for the first 6 months, stupid dr. advice. He got sick right after my wife stopped breasfeeding him. We didnt make the same mistake with my second son and my wife breastfed him for two and a half years. Healthy as an ox. FerFAL |
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Posted: 8/8/2014 11:41:55 AM EDT
[#13]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I predict you'll be using Amazon Prime a lot BTW, belated congrats on the new addition to your family! Thanks! He is finally starting to get on a pattern where I can get almost 8 hours of sleep at night  I have substantially more than 1 kid to worry about so food and other consumables for 1 month is a real challenge. Assuming the electricity stays on.... Assuming UPS can deliver items as needed We'll run out of Toilet paper in 1 week and diapers before that. I've raided my deep storage buckets too much to 'save the day' as Prepared Dad and have failed to replenish them Been looking at all the LED candles that run on 2 AA eneloop batteries....hmmm. seems like the kids broke most of them and the batteries are missing. Dog food.... yeah about 1 month then the dog will have to eat squirrels. Feminine items (ahem). yeah, maybe 1 month's worth. I dunno, need to talk with the mrs.... fruit, veggies, fresh eggs.... that's the real problem for us. Beans and rice are easy but after 3 similar meals it gets old fast. I could see us devouring all flours, baking every last cake, cookie, and brownie mix within 2 weeks and then doing weird rice and left over concoctions. We've friends with chickens - but have thought of getting a dozen of our own. We easily eat 7-8 eggs per day in breakfast and cooking. Vitamins.... N95 masks....enough for 1 month of use (thanks to the bird flu scare 5 years ago). Those things never go bad.... Fortunately thanks to the old bird flu scare of the early 2000s, every industry has drawn up contingency plans for at-home workers and N95 Mask, glove use mandates... Don't want to rag on you, but even the Duggers have enough TP for more than a week. I don't know what all your situation is, but IMHO, ESPECIALLY with children, you need to be able to provide for them for a week comfortably w/o resources from the outside modern world. You mentioned you have no plan to go w/o utilities. That is asking for being on the bus to the Superdome. My mom raised 5 of us by herself, and she only went shopping once a month for the big shop and once a week or so for fresh produce. Cowboy up! You will thank yourself. Oh, check out diapers.com and Amazon. They have large boxes that are cheaper than wal mart. I agree fresh produce is the toughest part. I haven't figured out how to have a month of bananas/apples/oranges/grapes/lettuce, etc that is what I mainly get every week.
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Posted: 8/8/2014 11:43:26 AM EDT
[#14]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I wouldnt worry at all about milk. We dont need it. I used to store powdered milk but after reading up about how related it is to cancer, alergies and other health complications and doing a trail run I'm convinced that its all about selling me crap I'm better off without. When it comes to babies, going natural is the best, healthiest thing anyway. We did the mistake with my first son, who only breastfed for the first 6 months, stupid dr. advice. He got sick right after my wife stopped breasfeeding him. We didnt make the same mistake with my second son and my wife breastfed him for two and a half years. Healthy as an ox. FerFAL With nipple stimulation sucking and some time any woman who has stopped lactating can re lactate in a matter of weeks. So everyone can add their wives to their preps. Keep a supply of Vomistop (Domperidone 10mg) around and she can be relacting in probably less than 1 week. 3pills 3x daily. |
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Posted: 8/8/2014 6:51:12 PM EDT
[#15]
ah well, no plan I want to share with yous guys.
So, um, er, yeah I have a generator and fuel for "a while". Depends on whether it's for running AC or just the freezer and recharging batteries.... TP - that's just something that one tends to forget about always assuming the deep storage is there - which until this thread came up I thought was there. A quick check and....oops! so, see the benefit of challenges like this? |
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Posted: 8/9/2014 8:58:12 PM EDT
[#16]
OP this sounds like a great experiment.
As far as preps and your location, can you give us a little details on the home set up, acreage, gardens, livestock etc. Thanks, looking forward to the results. |
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Posted: 8/9/2014 9:03:56 PM EDT
[#17]
One other thing I thought about that some might not. Basic toiletries. Toothpaste, soap, mouthwash, shave cream, shampoo, conditioner, whatever else you use every morning in the bathroom. For a while now, I've had at least one extra of everything sitting around. When I run out, I buy another one. You'd be amazed at how frequently you can run out of shampoo when you're sopping wet in the shower. When you have a backup or two, no problem. Wife unit really likes that part.
Going a month without resupply means you have a couple of most everything you use in your bathroom. It's not as glitzy as having 10k rounds of ammo or a TP fort, but for the exercise in question, it's a necessity. We also use a lot of paper products like tissues and paper towels. We have a BJs multi-pack of each that we're using and one sitting in the garage. When we use up the multi-pack, we hit BJs again, usually when they have a coupon. Don't forget stuff like dishwashing soap, both hand wash and machine wash versions as well as your laundry materials like detergent, bleach, dryer sheets, etc. All the little day-to-day things that we take for granted would need to be stocked so we don't have to go out and risk dying because we wanted clean clothes. |
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Posted: 8/10/2014 1:47:10 AM EDT
[#18]
Quote HistoryQuoted: OP this sounds like a great experiment. As far as preps and your location, can you give us a little details on the home set up, acreage, gardens, livestock etc. Thanks, looking forward to the results. We now have about 70 gallons gas for the genny, genny spare parts, toiletries, soaps, stockpiled building supplies. To be honest, fresh greens and fresh fruit are proving to be the problem. Everything else I think is under control. This will be interesting!
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Posted: 8/10/2014 3:32:38 AM EDT
[#19]
Quoted:
OK, well not much of a challenge, at least not for us. Since the Mrs is a stay at home mom, we are homeschooling our 8 year old and I have an office at home, we don't need to leave for much. However, I usually drive to town once a week or so for groceries. With all the ebola crap starting up, flu season coming and we have a 2.5 month old baby, we want to self isolate as much as possible this year, and if ebola looks at ALL like it is spreading, we are hunkering down. Again, we can so easily because our income does not depend on me leaving. We have a list of items we need to get that would allow us to last until spring w/o re-supply. Biggest challenge is fresh produce and dairy. We have plenty of powdered/canned milk. It works great for cooking, but for drinking. We will freeze as much fresh as I can fit in the freezer. We drink about a gallon a week, so we should last a while.
Anyway, what this will be and what is isn't: Will be:
Anyway, we are cheating a bit because we will be doing this after our annual fall stockup. Also, the chickens will be producing eggs within the next couple weeks, and the garden is giving us food. As I mentioned, we may push it to 2 months if it is too "easy". I will update when we start (in a week or 2), and keep things updated as we go. Feel free to join us in this challenge! No need to quit work, just no stopping for supper or groceries! Take a look at Morning Moo Milk this milk you can drink more like skim milk but it is good! It is the only powder milk my kids will drink along with me! I'm not pick eater at all! |
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Posted: 8/10/2014 7:01:36 AM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Not sure I would want to deplete my supplies if, as you suggest, events unfold in an unexpected but decidedly unpleasant fashion with the Ebola issue. I like the idea, though. It definitely would point out the holes in supplies/preps and give you an opportunity to fix them in the relative calmness of what passes for "normal" times. Actually, this isn't a bad idea to use up supplies that need to get rotated on a regular basis. They're consumables and building in an annual exercise to replace and rotate isn't a bad idea. I wouldn't want to start digging out my long-term storage stuff every year, but it's a good practice to maintain that functional rotation. I do think the value is identifying gaps or those small things that may get overlooked. Since utilities aren't getting cut, you could consider cutting the circuit breaker for those you don't plan on powering when using your generators. Also, since most would only dedicate generators on a limited time schedule, you could "power" down the rest for night. Having a little "admin time" to update us, check Facebook or pay bills as needed isn't a bad idea as we always consider those mini-AARs during an exercise to capture lessons learned. Heck, you could keep a journal right here on the SF
ROCK6 |
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Posted: 8/10/2014 2:26:19 PM EDT
[#21]
Fun thread. I grew up working a fishing lodge in a remote part of Alaska. Most of my friends out there made two or three trips to town a year, mostly during winter when travel via snowmachine made for "cheap" trips to haul lots of stuff and everything else was mail or barge. I think a lot of you guys aren't giving the OP credit. I bet 90% of our trips to get "necessities" really aren't, they're more just creature comforts. Just my $0.02.
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Posted: 8/10/2014 2:39:15 PM EDT
[#22]
This actually sounds interesting
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Posted: 8/10/2014 4:43:28 PM EDT
[#23]
Also tag... This is a good idea. Not sure I could bring the wife on board but I would enjoy trying it... Might be hard with work but I think an attempt would still be fun.
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Posted: 8/10/2014 5:15:26 PM EDT
[#24]
Great test
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Posted: 8/10/2014 8:12:47 PM EDT
[#25]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Also tag... This is a good idea. Not sure I could bring the wife on board but I would enjoy trying it... Might be hard with work but I think an attempt would still be fun.  |
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Posted: 8/11/2014 2:38:37 PM EDT
[#26]
Good for you `Rat! Looking forward to your updates. One question for you though is something a few others have touched on. Since you're going to go thru a month's worth of your supplies, do you have the financial means to [immediately] replace those supplies when your test is over? We all prep for our own reasons/scenarios and I'd hate to see you come up with a one month 'hole' in your own preps just when we're heading towards winter/flu season/potential Ebola nasties. Bear
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Posted: 8/11/2014 3:03:57 PM EDT
[#27]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Good for you `Rat! Looking forward to your updates. One question for you though is something a few others have touched on. Since you're going to go thru a month's worth of your supplies, do you have the financial means to [immediately] replace those supplies when your test is over? We all prep for our own reasons/scenarios and I'd hate to see you come up with a one month 'hole' in your own preps just when we're heading towards winter/flu season/potential Ebola nasties. Bear +1... 3/4 the way through your test & it hits the fan for real... DOH! |
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Posted: 8/11/2014 3:37:52 PM EDT
[#28]
Quote HistoryQuoted: +1... 3/4 the way through your test & it hits the fan for real... DOH! Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: Good for you `Rat! Looking forward to your updates. One question for you though is something a few others have touched on. Since you're going to go thru a month's worth of your supplies, do you have the financial means to [immediately] replace those supplies when your test is over? We all prep for our own reasons/scenarios and I'd hate to see you come up with a one month 'hole' in your own preps just when we're heading towards winter/flu season/potential Ebola nasties. Bear +1... 3/4 the way through your test & it hits the fan for real... DOH! Part of what we do is buying in bulk normally. We buy whole hogs, half or quarter beef, Costco runs, Sam's Club runs, etc. Used to dropping a couple grand in a month, but it averages out over the year.
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Posted: 8/11/2014 3:51:00 PM EDT
[#29]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
+1... 3/4 the way through your test & it hits the fan for real... DOH! Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
Good for you `Rat! Looking forward to your updates. One question for you though is something a few others have touched on. Since you're going to go thru a month's worth of your supplies, do you have the financial means to [immediately] replace those supplies when your test is over? We all prep for our own reasons/scenarios and I'd hate to see you come up with a one month 'hole' in your own preps just when we're heading towards winter/flu season/potential Ebola nasties. Bear +1... 3/4 the way through your test & it hits the fan for real... DOH! That's why you keep a 90 day supply built up. We wanted to see how long our stocked items would last us ... we thought we had 90 days worth. Some things ran out on day 48 ...... we learned from that and pretty know for certain we have 90 days on hand. MRE's are not a bad think to keep on hand ..... but they do not count in the " 90 day supply ". |
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Posted: 8/11/2014 3:51:58 PM EDT
[#30]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Yup. We can replace immediately. We are now stocking not just for our 1 month challenge, but we will have enough to get us until next spring. Normal for us to do this. Part of what we do is buying in bulk normally. We buy whole hogs, half or quarter beef, Costco runs, Sam's Club runs, etc. Used to dropping a couple grand in a month, but it averages out over the year. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Good for you `Rat! Looking forward to your updates. One question for you though is something a few others have touched on. Since you're going to go thru a month's worth of your supplies, do you have the financial means to [immediately] replace those supplies when your test is over? We all prep for our own reasons/scenarios and I'd hate to see you come up with a one month 'hole' in your own preps just when we're heading towards winter/flu season/potential Ebola nasties. Bear +1... 3/4 the way through your test & it hits the fan for real... DOH! Part of what we do is buying in bulk normally. We buy whole hogs, half or quarter beef, Costco runs, Sam's Club runs, etc. Used to dropping a couple grand in a month, but it averages out over the year. You must live in the sticks ..... like we do!
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Posted: 8/11/2014 4:49:50 PM EDT
[#31]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
That's why you keep a 90 day supply built up. We wanted to see how long our stocked items would last us ... we thought we had 90 days worth. Some things ran out on day 48 ...... we learned from that and pretty know for certain we have 90 days on hand. MRE's are not a bad think to keep on hand ..... but they do not count in the " 90 day supply ". Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Good for you `Rat! Looking forward to your updates. One question for you though is something a few others have touched on. Since you're going to go thru a month's worth of your supplies, do you have the financial means to [immediately] replace those supplies when your test is over? We all prep for our own reasons/scenarios and I'd hate to see you come up with a one month 'hole' in your own preps just when we're heading towards winter/flu season/potential Ebola nasties. Bear +1... 3/4 the way through your test & it hits the fan for real... DOH! That's why you keep a 90 day supply built up. We wanted to see how long our stocked items would last us ... we thought we had 90 days worth. Some things ran out on day 48 ...... we learned from that and pretty know for certain we have 90 days on hand. MRE's are not a bad think to keep on hand ..... but they do not count in the " 90 day supply ". I do keep about 2 1/2 ~ 3 months of food on hand. Probably more but I like to be conservative with my estimates. Nothing super long term other then a few buckets. We have about two months worth of just what we use and rotate. Plus what's in our chest freezer and regular freezer. I consider 3 months to be my comfort mark. That will get us through any realistic situation and some not so realistic. 3 months with no re supply, or local bartering is a long time. |
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Posted: 8/11/2014 5:38:49 PM EDT
[#32]
Sounds like a good plan. I did some on vacation, did dinners from the pantry, some was past the 'Best used by' date, but was fine. HurricaineAllie does it for lunches, mac-n-cheese with spam, she loves it, it is pretty good. I made her shepards pie, only fresh was ground beef. I have stored FD ground beef, it would work in a minute. I am thinking of some weekends of stay and home. Oh we did do one thing, the Main AC unit went, been a month and not up yet, Do not buy Bryant or Trane. But the back up is an extra insulation, better windows and ceiling fans, we actually were very comfortable with out AC.
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Posted: 8/11/2014 7:07:52 PM EDT
[#33]
Quote HistoryQuoted: You must live in the sticks ..... like we do! Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Good for you `Rat! Looking forward to your updates. One question for you though is something a few others have touched on. Since you're going to go thru a month's worth of your supplies, do you have the financial means to [immediately] replace those supplies when your test is over? We all prep for our own reasons/scenarios and I'd hate to see you come up with a one month 'hole' in your own preps just when we're heading towards winter/flu season/potential Ebola nasties. Bear +1... 3/4 the way through your test & it hits the fan for real... DOH! Part of what we do is buying in bulk normally. We buy whole hogs, half or quarter beef, Costco runs, Sam's Club runs, etc. Used to dropping a couple grand in a month, but it averages out over the year. You must live in the sticks ..... like we do! ETA: When I was growing up, we didn't call it prepping. We called it winter.
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Posted: 8/11/2014 7:54:17 PM EDT
[#34]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
born and raised
ETA: When I was growing up, we didn't call it prepping. We called it winter. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Good for you `Rat! Looking forward to your updates. One question for you though is something a few others have touched on. Since you're going to go thru a month's worth of your supplies, do you have the financial means to [immediately] replace those supplies when your test is over? We all prep for our own reasons/scenarios and I'd hate to see you come up with a one month 'hole' in your own preps just when we're heading towards winter/flu season/potential Ebola nasties. Bear +1... 3/4 the way through your test & it hits the fan for real... DOH! Part of what we do is buying in bulk normally. We buy whole hogs, half or quarter beef, Costco runs, Sam's Club runs, etc. Used to dropping a couple grand in a month, but it averages out over the year. You must live in the sticks ..... like we do!
ETA: When I was growing up, we didn't call it prepping. We called it winter. AND WINTER IS COMING! I am always amazed when folks go running to the store to buy a shovel when the first snow storms comes. |
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Posted: 8/11/2014 11:45:52 PM EDT
[#35]
SHTF will happen on day 30 and you will be with significantly less supplies
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Posted: 8/12/2014 12:00:23 AM EDT
[#36]
Quote HistoryQuoted: SHTF will happen on day 30 and you will be with significantly less supplies  |
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Posted: 8/20/2014 8:37:11 AM EDT
[#37]
It's been a week. Updates?? Have you run out of fresh milk yet?
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Posted: 8/20/2014 11:03:36 AM EDT
[#38]
We have had some personal issues come up that has prevented us from officially starting. Nothing major, just occupied us.
We have slightly modified our plan after discussing this all at length. We won't stop buying fresh produce. It is healthy, and there is not currently a good reason to take that raw nutrition away from ourselves, especially our children. We are going to carefully log everything we use. I installed the Rapid Inventory app on her android device to use in reverse for logging everything we consume. We took a good look around while organizing the pantry this week finding room for canned garden produce, and we both quickly realized that one month is not an issue on ANYTHING but the fresh produce. We do have a lot of canned fruit/veggies, but fresh is far superior nutrition-wise. We literally have cases and cases of canned fruits/veggies. We still have the goal to use only our current stock to go through a month without resupply, although as mentioned, that will be of little challenge. Since it is our annual fall stockup season, we will still continue with normal operations, but not go into what we are getting this month, just what we already have, per the idea mentioned earlier. This will also give real world data on how much we currently consume. We plan on working in a "utilities off" weekend, where we run on our backup systems, just to see how those have come along since we had to do it for real when we first go our house. Right now we go to the camper after summer storms, at AC, water, cooking is all MUCH easier in the camper than the house. Half of that is to gauge fuel usage. The biggest part of what this is going to be is to log usage rates. Real world data of what it takes, so we can accurately calculate how far our stocks would go. Like I said, after surveying the pantry, 1 month is not a challenge, less fresh produce. Oh, and if anyone can figure out how to reliably grow bananas and oranges outside in MN, please let me know
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Posted: 8/26/2014 11:30:02 PM EDT
[#39]
And we're off!
We decided on a system to monitor usage, track what we are taking out of pantry. For the sake of health, we are going to continue to use fresh produce as needed. We have plenty canned on the shelf if need be. Our 1 month supplies monitor will also help us know how much it would really take. We will continue normal stockup for winter, but we won't touch those supplies unless needed, and will be documented for the exercise. First week should be very un-eventful, but I will post updates as we go! |
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Posted: 8/27/2014 8:08:06 AM EDT
[#40]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
And we're off! We decided on a system to monitor usage, track what we are taking out of pantry. For the sake of health, we are going to continue to use fresh produce as needed. We have plenty canned on the shelf if need be. Our 1 month supplies monitor will also help us know how much it would really take. We will continue normal stockup for winter, but we won't touch those supplies unless needed, and will be documented for the exercise. First week should be very un-eventful, but I will post updates as we go! Sounds interesting. It would also be beneficial to track calorie/nutrient intake during this, if only for a few days. For me adequate storage of protein seems to be the hardest long term storage item. |
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Posted: 8/27/2014 9:01:19 AM EDT
[#41]
I know you said fresh produce, but do you have a dehydrator to put up fruit and suitable vegetables like corn (makes a pretty good snack)? dehydrated and vacuum packed on Mason/Ball jars... additionally can you substitute some bean sprouts from long term storage for salad greens... 7 quart jars (with screen lids) with staggered starts should allow you to continually produce greens once the first sprouts become available.... and as you mention, there is always a shortage of 5 gal buckets... congratulations on your test
repackaged raisins and home dehydrated banana chips vacuum packed 5/2012 
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Posted: 8/27/2014 1:45:10 PM EDT
[#42]
Yup, we have a dehydrator, and use it. But when you do anything with the fresh produce for storage (dehydrate, can, etc.), you kill the beneficial enzymes in it. We have dehydrated this, that and the other thing fruit wise, but not too much because we eat fresh. We have a great deal of canned fruit, but again the enzymes are killed.
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Posted: 8/27/2014 2:00:12 PM EDT
[#43]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Sounds interesting. It would also be beneficial to track calorie/nutrient intake during this, if only for a few days. For me adequate storage of protein seems to be the hardest long term storage item. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: And we're off! We decided on a system to monitor usage, track what we are taking out of pantry. For the sake of health, we are going to continue to use fresh produce as needed. We have plenty canned on the shelf if need be. Our 1 month supplies monitor will also help us know how much it would really take. We will continue normal stockup for winter, but we won't touch those supplies unless needed, and will be documented for the exercise. First week should be very un-eventful, but I will post updates as we go! Sounds interesting. It would also be beneficial to track calorie/nutrient intake during this, if only for a few days. For me adequate storage of protein seems to be the hardest long term storage item. |
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Posted: 8/30/2014 12:06:38 AM EDT
[#44]
Well, hit our first fail.
We ran out of Parmesan cheese.  A luxury item, but the Mrs uses it as a spice, plus use it quite heavily on pasta! Didn't see that one coming.
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Posted: 8/30/2014 11:47:36 AM EDT
[#45]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Well, hit our first fail. We ran out of Parmesan cheese.
A luxury item, but the Mrs uses it as a spice, plus use it quite heavily on pasta! Didn't see that one coming. Never would have thought about that one, Do open containers need to be refrigerated? |
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Posted: 8/30/2014 12:04:12 PM EDT
[#46]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Never would have thought about that one, Do open containers need to be refrigerated? Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: Well, hit our first fail. We ran out of Parmesan cheese. A luxury item, but the Mrs uses it as a spice, plus use it quite heavily on pasta! Didn't see that one coming. Never would have thought about that one, Do open containers need to be refrigerated? |
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Posted: 8/30/2014 11:58:30 PM EDT
[#47]
Tag for interests. I'm kind of tapping into my stuff in order to pay some large medical bills. I would be running up credit cards if I hadn't been prepping. My preps also include extra toiletries like soap shampoo laundry stuff paper products.
This gives me a good chance to use up some of the stuff that was getting old and that I am not apt to eat on a regular basis. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Posted: 8/31/2014 7:06:13 PM EDT
[#48]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
For best quality, refrigerate after opening. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Well, hit our first fail. We ran out of Parmesan cheese.
A luxury item, but the Mrs uses it as a spice, plus use it quite heavily on pasta! Didn't see that one coming. Never would have thought about that one, Do open containers need to be refrigerated? It's also good on popcorn. We store parmesan in the cupboard without any loss of quality. |
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Posted: 9/1/2014 10:09:43 AM EDT
[#49]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Well, hit our first fail. We ran out of Parmesan cheese.
A luxury item, but the Mrs uses it as a spice, plus use it quite heavily on pasta! Didn't see that one coming. I have had that too, but I use the refridgerated Parm, Romano, and Asiago.... usually have 6 months on hand, but then they get pushed to the back and get moldy |
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Posted: 9/2/2014 10:52:33 AM EDT
[#50]
My wife said I could blame here, so I will
 She took a nap with our little one yesterday afternoon when kiddo and I were outside working on the chicken coop. She woke up at 6 and ordered pizza delivered. That is all.
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