Kim, Amy and I have re-organised the entire kitchen layout to accommodate all of the extra food that we have begun to buy. I am still loosing things, as we have not changed things much in the kitchen since we moved in 8 years ago. We analysed what we actually use as far a glassware goes, and decided that you can only drink out of so many glasses or coffee cups. Kim wrapped them up in newspaper and they are going to the charity shop on the weekend.
We have a ready use cupboard, a baking cupboard, two draws full of stockpile food, a bulk canned food cupboard, and dry-goods area. We now have a double cupboard that is empty, but will soon fill it up with more food items (probably UHT milk).
Most of the food is purchased, but not in the quantities that we have estimated to last us two months of no shopping. We need more basmati rice, olive oil, sugar, personal hygiene items, coconut cream, bread making pre-mix, vegemite & peanut butter, heaps of UHT milk (Kim doesn’t like powdered milk), cereal and a few laundry items. We have an Aldi only 5 minutes up the road so that is where I got most of the food. Also a NQR opened two weeks ago, about 15 minutes away, so when I am down in Melton South, I pop in to check if there is anything cheap going in bulk that we use.
Now, I know that people like to have a sticky-beak in other peoples cupboards, so here they are in all their glory! You will also get a fair idea of what we have stocked up on so far. It may seam like a lot but remember that we have six humans and a small dog to feed. Kim also says that I remind her of the male character out of the movie “Sleeping with the Enemy” who had a quirk about having all the labels of the cans facing towards you. I am not that anal, but if you can’t see what is in the tins, I find that you buy unnecessary extras.
The first is the vegetable storage draw with some canned fruit and dry soups.
The next draw is full of pasta, rice, dried beans/chickpeas, and flour. These draws are really deep and there is about 10 kg of pasta alone!
Next to the gas stove is the bulk canned food cupboard of spaghetti, red kidney beans, baked beans, diced tomatoes, corn kernels, with heaps of room left in it.
We have a ready use cupboard the we restock from the bulk storage. So far, when we use a lot of something, then we replace it back into the bulk storage within the fortnight.
Next is the condiment cupboard. We refill the tomato sauce bottles, the olive oil bottle from a 4 litre tin, and the rest doesn’t really matter in during a crisis except that I love vegemite (yeast extract) which is full of vitamin B12 so we are getting a few jars of this.
Here is the fresh fruit bowl, dry cereal, cake & biscuit tins, cookbooks, and big cookware rack (including pressure cooker), with my wine rack and trusty wok down the bottom. Many a great stir-fry and curry has been made in that wok! You can also just see a bit of my big birdseye chilli necklace to the top right.
On the side is the ready use pasta and rice glass containers next to our bread maker (which I make jam in as well), and the steel Thermos that I fill whenever there is spare boiling water in the kettle. Then I make my tea from this water instead of having to boil another kettle full. Every little bit helps reduce our carbon footprint.
And finally some of the personal hygiene items we have stockpiled. We have also got lots of toothpaste, soap, and shampoo in the bathroom cupboard. I am ashamed that we didn’t buy recycled toilet paper this time around, but will try and find some when next time we go shopping.
The only cupboard that I didn’t take a picture of which is still quite full, is the preserve cupboard, so here is the archive photo of my preserves from a few months ago.
Not a bad collection so far, and we are rotating the stock through as we run down the ready use cupboards. We ensured that the shelf life for all the items was at least a year, as we figure that it might take that long to rotate through some items. We only have about a months worth of food so far, and ultimately are looking at stockpiling at least two months worth.
We have lots fresh vegetables to keep us going, soon will have chickens for eggs (I still haven’t finished the hen house), and lots of tank water, however, I still have to buy about 5 food grade 20 litre water storage containers that I will fill from the rainwater tank. This is in case we get caught with an empty tank. I will be hoping for rain as well if that is the case. I can always desalinate some of the pool water if we get desperate. I hope it never comes to that though.
Some may think I am crazy, but as the scout’s motto states, “Be Prepared”!
you can make your own toothpaste – less toxic as well – 1T bicarb, 2T coconut oil – make your own deo, 50/50 bi-carb and cornflour – aslo less toxic and way less expensive for both
oops just saw the date, maybe by now you already do 🙂