The "Beans" portion of "Beans, Bullets, and Bandaids"

[Jamie Jackson]

We have some great threads about good buys on guns & ammo for 'em.  (Bullets)

 

We have some great threads on gardening and food preservation. (Good start on the "beans" portion)

 

We need more info on the "Beans" (storage foods) and "Bandaids" ( 1st Aid/Self-care/Buddy-care) parts of the equation imho.

 

 

We can, freeze, dehydrate, garden and put back LTS (Long Term Storage) buckets of things we use every day.

 

 

 

So how about posting some good buys you folks run across?

 

 

We practice the old adage of "Store what you eat and Eat what you store", so our rotation is constant.

 

We made our grocery rounds today (11/3/14) and stopped in Krogers.
Their house brand beans, one pound bags, were/are on a "Close-Out" sale.

A couple of weeks ago they were averaging $1.39/lb bag.

We picked up about 40 lbs of various beans, ranging from $.42/lb (white Lima beans) through $.69/lb (for Blackeye peas).

We got Lima beans, Great Northern beans, black beans, pinto beans etc.

Their 16 bean soup mix, 2 lbs were $1.59/bag. (makes great French Market Soup!)

 

I sure these will sell out pretty fast at these prices.

 

Just thought I'd share the savings and hope you folks will do the same. :pleased:

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Edited November 3, 2014 by prag

[Caster]

ABSOLUTELY eat what you store.  ROTATE! ROTATE! ROTATE!

 

The local Food Lion went out of business recently.  50% or more off everything.  Filled a buggy with canned stuffs.  Local Fred's ran Chef Boyardee Ravioli for 40¢ a can too.  Keep several flats of everything.  

 

Use a sharpie to put the purchase date on the top of the can as well as the expiration date.  The dang expiration date can be a pain to read on some brands.  Take the time to clearly mark it and it'll motivate you to keep everything rotated.  

[Jamie Jackson]

Great suggestions Caster.

 

I look for sales like you mentioned! You can save a bundle that way.

 

We use the sharpies as well, and rotate back to front on canned goods.

 

This time of year is great for sales. Walmart is running brand name canned vegetables (Libby's and Delmonte) at $.50/can currently.

[musicman]

Good info, guys! I'm just getting started on the "beans", have been working on the "band-aids" for a few months... and we always need more "bullets" right?!?!

We're limited mostly by space right now, and then by budget, but we are slowly building a food stash. Target had canned veggies on sale yesterday for $.59/can, plus we had another 10% off via cartwheel, and another 5% via red card. Those will go well with the mountain of canned chicken and tuna we have. And yes, we practice FIFO to keep stuff in date. I need to figure out the best method for moisture and rodent proofing (yea right!) stores of beans and rice for us next.

Keep up the posts!

[Mark A]

Limited storage space is where dehydration shines. You end up a bit limited on what you can do with it but you can pack a lot of dehydrated veggies in a very small space.

[Jamie Jackson]

Great points musicman and Mark.

 

Space is always a consideration. But most folks would be truly surprised at the amount of available space they possibly hadn't even considered.

 

A lot of people keep clothes, shoes, Christmas decorations and such under their beds in [url=http://www.walmart.com/ip/Rubbermaid-Wheeled-Underbed-Box/38664630]"slide in & out" plastic totes[/url]. Those things hold a bunch of canned goods.

 

Space in the bottom of closets work well for 5 gallon buckets. Cover them with a sheet and place a 1"x12" section of pine board on top and you have an extra shelf for your normally stored items. My wife hasn't complained and complemented me on the idea.

 

Regards canned goods in general: What we normally refer to as an "expiration date" is more times than not a "Best By" date. As long as there is not rust on the cans, and they maintain there vac sealed state, i.e. not swollen or bloated, they are GTG for several years after that scary date. The texture will degrade eventually, and some component of nutrition will eventually suffer...but they do just "go bad" as the date passes.

I'm certain most folks reading this already understand that, so those points are for folks just considering food storage.

 

FIFO that musicman mentioned. "First In - First Out" is the general rotation principle. That sharpie marker Caster mentioned comes in handy. :up:

 

Mark is spot on regarding dehydration reducing storage space needs. We will purchase dehydrated canned or bagged foods on sale, like at [url=http://www.thereadystore.com/food-storage/preparation-method/dehydrated-food-storage] The Ready Store[/url].

or Maybe dehydrate our own with our Excalibur dehydrator and store in jars. (We keep these under a kitchen island and use them frequently...very frequently.)

 

 

Copy Canning is a concept we initially practiced. It didn't have that title back then, but the concept is simply purchasing 2-3 "extra" cans of whatever is on your grocery list and putting those into your FIFO rotation. You'd be amazed at how quickly your stock will build over just a few months time...and it's "stuff" you already use...That's how it got on your list...remember? :pleased:

 

 

 

Just some thoughts...please share yours.

I'm always looking for and needing ideas.

[JPS]

 

 

Space is always a consideration. But most folks would be truly surprised at the amount of available space they possibly hadn't even considered.

 

 

I removed the paneling that covered the front of our kitchen counter/bar and found a good-sized (appx 3.5' x 3.5 x 4' high) area of 'dead space between the kitchen cabinets and the dishwasher..  It has become our 'secret' stash for supplies, with 5 gal buckets stacked and canned goods filling the space around them.  I thought about putting a door on it, but instead just used a couple of short, lg head nails to hold the paneling in, and no one knows its there.

I also store TP, soap, etc. and some basic medical supplies in the platform support of our mattress/bed.  If you look for hidden unused space you'll probably be able to find plenty of extra room for storage.

[Jamie Jackson]

Good going JPS. Innovative! :up:

 

 

Just a head's up:

A bud e-mailed me to let me know [url=http://krogernashville.mywebgrocer.com/Circular/KROGER-MARKETPLACE-686/4D66124734/Weekly/2/1]Kroger's is starting some good "loss leader" sales today, 11-5.[/url]

 

Land-O-Lakes butter is $2.49/lb when you purchase 10.

 

What am i gonna do with 10 pounds of butter?! you might ask. :cool:

 

Well...I first freeze it. Then vac seal it. I stored and used butter in this fashion and found it to keep extremely well for up to 2 years in our chest freezers.

 

 

Kroger's also have turkey's at $.79/lb...not bad.

 

I recently canned one we had left in our freezer from last year...I did bake the drumsticks and wings...then boned out and canned the rest of the meat, and made several pints of good quality stock from the leftovers and canned that.

 

Of course you can always just cook it and eat it LOL.

Edited November 5, 2014 by prag

[Jamie Jackson]

Kroger's sale is still going on...I believe through Tuesday the 11th.

 

We picked up a few (several actually) flats (12 cans each) of various Green Giant canned vegetables and Delmonte canned tomatoes... $0.38/can! That's about 1/2 their normal pricing.

 

That frees up funds for "gun stuff" friends... :cool:

[Guest]

Kroger's sale is still going on...I believe through Tuesday the 11th.
 
We picked up a few (several actually) flats (12 cans each) of various Green Giant canned vegetables and Delmonte canned tomatoes... $0.38/can! That's about 1/2 their normal pricing.
 
That frees up funds for "gun stuff" friends... :cool:

Those all go together perfectly in ball jars as canned vegetable soup for easy, nutritious, and delicious meals on cold winter days :-)