Frugal Prep Thoughts…A Cost Effective Analysis, maybe…

Hi Everyone! Dean in Az with more random wandering’s that flow thru my head!

We’re all getting our gardening thing’s squared away,getting ready to can them and such.As much of the country is cooling off,I’m getting ready for my winter garden,as it grow’s better here,due to the temp and rainfall.

I must have been bored today.I went to a website for freeze dried food’s,just to check out what they had. I was really impressed with the menu they had,looked like a family restaurant menu! Talk about comfort food,it sounded great!

Then the sticker shock! 21 day’s of food,look’s like each meal could feed 4 people,for 550 !!!

Now,if you have a family of 4,that’s not a bad deal…but I’m a single guy,and once you open the can,you need to eat it til it’s gone,no prob.I could easily double or triple the 21 day’s.

You all know how I love to dehydrate stuff.I also can meat’s.My pressure canner is a bit on the small side,I can do 4 pint jar’s at a time,or 6 half pint’s.Being single,I prefer to do stuff in the half pint jar’s,as I feel that’s 1 serving.A half pint jar will hold about 1/3 pound of ground beef,so make some macaroni,some tomato sauce,there’s an easy meal! So,if I had a bugout buddy or such,1 jar per person,simple to figure out.

The big problem is how to haul so many small jar’s.The good part is,that if 1 were to break,you didn’t lose as much as a quart jar.

While I do dehydrate a bit of meat,I prefer to can it,as it’s easier to keep fresh longer.And any fatty food’s have to be canned,or it will go rancid.I almost always’ dehydrate veggie’s tho.I can buy whatever I want,be it mixed veggie’s,a stir fry or whatever.

So,where is the cost part?

Browsing thru the current sale ad’s,they have frozen veggie’s on sale for 1.19. Dehydrated,you can easily fit 15 pound’s into a coffee can.So,for less than 20 buck’s,you have the start of a lot of soup or stew’s.I figure 1 cup of dehydrated will make 2 serving’s.

They have sausage on sale too,those farmer brown one’s,at 10 for 10,8 per pack. I can get 6 sausage’s into a half pint jar,1 serving for me.So there is 13 jar’s of sausage for 10 buck’s

5 dozen egg’s for 3.88. There are way’s to preserve fresh egg’s,such as oil or wax.I prefer to dehydrate them.I have 36 egg’s in 4 half pint jar’s.1 tbls =1 egg.

I think you see my point here.It’s obviously cheaper to do it yourself,assuming you have the time and ambition,and the toy’s needed.If you have more $$ than time,go for the store bought prep’s.Sure,you need to factor in the cost of the jar’s and lid’s,but they are re usable.

Just trying to help you save a buck!

Thank’s for your time!

Dean in Az

PS to SciFi: I got a great recipe coming,just need to perfect it!