Sunday, August 1, 2010

You might be a Hoarder if.............

Have you ever seen that show Hoarders? It's awful. People living in trash up to the window panes. I've watched it a few times out of sheer horror. Although, I'm not going to lie, I sat a couple of my kids down in front of it with me to give them a little motivation to clean their rooms :)

Anyway, my first trip back to the grocery store gave me a little insight into those people who hoard. I couldn't believe all the FOOD. Everywhere! I had forgotten how much food was available in how many varieties, and most of it in convenience packages. Wow.

I just went from one aisle to the other stocking up my cart. I was like a kid in a candy store. It's a good thing no one was with me, they would have been really embarrassed. I think I might even have hugged a couple of boxes of Eggos.......

By the time I had finished with the grocery store and Costco my van was packed, and I mean PACKED! When I got home I realized just how small my fridge is :) I could barely shut the door, and that is when it occurred to me I could easily become a food hoarder if I'm not careful. I now have this overwhelming desire to stock up on fresh foods, as if tomorrow I won't be able to get it. I think I bought enough cheese, fruits, eggs, yogurts, and vegetables to feed the US army for at least 2 weeks.

So I decided to look up the definition of hoarder and guess what? It's too late - I already AM a hoarder! LOL

HOARD:
   
–noun
1. A supply or accumulation that is hidden or carefully guarded for preservation, future use, etc.

–verb
2. To accumulate for preservation, future use, etc., in a hidden or carefully guarded place: to hoard food during a shortage.

So I've decided to just embrace that side of myself and try to hoard in moderation :)


One thing living off food storage has done for us is give us an appetite for whole, fresh foods. I think we have eaten pretty much nothing but fresh fruits, veggies, and dairy since we quit food storage. One of our first meals was a huge fruit salad and twice baked potatoes. My 4 year, who doesn't quite get that we aren't on food storage anymore, takes one bite and says, "Now this is a great 'whesipie' mom!" So cute - he couldn't even quite pronounce the word recipe.



Other good news, I've been finding the pieces to build a cheese press and found the PERFECT cutting board for the base at Wal-mart (I have a real love/hate relationship with that store). It's perfect because you can see it has a drain off one side which you need as you squeeze the whey out of the curds. I have to order a couple of parts this week and then put my husband to work on it.

Speaking of my husband, he decided this week that rather than pay $269 for a brake job on my van, he would just do it himself. No big deal since he usually changes our brakes. However, this van is new and it took him much longer than he anticipated. He didn't finish until 10pm and he was really tired when he was finally ready to take the van out for a test run.

Well, he forgot to pump the brakes first so the brakes didn't work at all, and he crashed my van right into the back of his brand new truck. Major body damage to both our vehicles. I was just laughing so hard!(although he didn't think it was very funny).

Now, I'm not saying this is his comeuppance for making us quit food storage but............ :)

14 comments:

  1. It's really ok. Bummer for what's about to happen to our insurance rates when we file the claim, but one of those moments you'll spend the rest of you life laughing about. I just choose to start laughing now. :)

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  2. Laughs... sorry.

    Just reminded me of driving home from New Mexico a couple of years ago (I live in Central Florida), with no problems whatsoever, through storms.

    Before I can drop off rental SUV the following day (I arrived Sunday night), I hear a sickening metal crunch sound from outside. Yup, someone had backed right into the rental. Of course, this was right after I said, don't forget I am parked right behind you, and they said, I KNOW!!!

    Now, repeat after me...

    I'm a hoarder, and proud of it. :o)

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  3. Oh, my goodness...sorry that happened but secretly I'm smiling a little (comeuppance for sure ! )Glad you had fun shopping...I know what you mean, the choices are endless at the Wally World Superstore ( I have my own love/hate relationship with the place too !)

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  4. BTW, forgot to ask you, are you renaming your blog ?

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  5. Nonna, I hadn't thought about that. I guess I should but it makes me feel sad even thinking about it. Maybe I'll take suggestions....

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  6. So sorry for the damage! I hope you keep up on the blog, I love all of your advice. I bought a meat grinder and made wheat meat. It was so fun to do! I have a question for you about that. After you grind and then cook the meat in the oven, how firm is the meat? I was doing ground beef and wasn't sure how firm it should have been when I pulled it out of the oven. Should it be like cooked ground beef or still kind of soft? Thanks!

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  7. Julene, it should still be soft. It is easy to overcook the wheat meat and then it is ruined. If it gets hard, it is overcooked and will be dry and tough.

    I was pleasantly surprised by wheat meat. Let me know how yours turns out!

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  8. I just wanted to thank you for an excellent class you gave tonight. I had to leave before the rest of the evening was over and wanted to ask you some questions. Wondering what you are going to do as far as storing butter? Have you've tried the canned butter (not the powdered stuff)? And what about a substitute for sour cream? Those are the things I struggle with the most. I'd love to chat.

    nataliegessell@gmail.com

    Natalie

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  9. One other thing...what kind of wheat grinder do you suggest?

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  10. Natalie,

    I'm SO glad you made it last night! I wasn't sure if you were there because I didn't know anyone in that group so I wouldn't have recognized new faces.

    For the butter, I can my own. I haven't talked much about that because there is a small, but passionate, group of people who feel very strongly that you shouldn't do that. Enough people have asked me about it though that I'm going to blog about it this week so you'll get all the info there.

    I have never found an adequate powdered sour cream. There are good ones to add to recipes, but none of them that I have tried can be reconstituted and used as a topping. If you ever find one PLEASE let me know!

    For wheat grinders I feel this is an area where you should not scrimp. It's better to save up and get a good one. I LOVE mine and I've had it for at least 10 years and it's still going strong. After much research I recommend to people the Wonder Mill. I have both the electric and the hand mill. You can read more bout them here: http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/products-we-recommend/grain-mills-wheat-grinders/

    If you have more questions I would be so happy to talk to you. I'm not an expert by any means but I do have some experience. I'll send you my e-mail address.

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  11. Whoops..I meant meat grinder..I love my WonderMill! Thanks so much for the info!

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  12. HeeHee, that is funny. There are several different kinds of meat grinders. I don't think that the brand is much of an issue like it is with wheat grinders. You just want one that is well built that will last. I bought a Weston.

    The thing to look for is is make sure its a #10, has course and fine grinding plates, won't rust, and is a good heavy duty one. To give you an idea, here is the one I bought: http://www.amazon.com/Deluxe-Grinder-stuffing-funnesl-grinder/dp/B001RM1LJ4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1283448332&sr=1-1-spell

    I got mine at Smith and Edwards in Utah. You would want one similar to that. You wouldn't need the sausage stuffing accessories for wheat meat, but you never know when it might come in handy later........ :)

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  13. Dear how about we leave my mechanic/vehicle experiences for my own blog on these matters. These people take time out of their day, that could be spent with the children, more importantly the SPOUSE or tending to the needs of their homes in order to learn about food storage. They need not be subjected to the boring stories generated by me. STAY FOCUSED!

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