So weve been spending a few years getting prepped,ie,much along the Mormon lines in one aspect.

I dont think its an emergency time frame,we have time IMO to go,plenty of it.Trying to say no need to panic if just getting started,it will grow.Like a monster,it will grow,LOL.

We have protection,all kinds of food preps,financial savings,med preps,various gadgets to keep life going,all kinds of things.

A while back asked Mrs "want to go to Winco?" They are like a Costco type place,very good food sales....Mrs says "What do we need?'......errrr....NOTHING!

So of course nothing is ever perfect,of course there could be better deeper supplies,but by golly.....we actually are comfortable weve covered many bases and food and cooking seem well filled from the Mormon guidelines.They are THE experts IMO on how to do that aspect.Not whack job extremist here,just a 1900's pantry/larder.

So YES,you CAN get it covered it appears.All done within a budget of never spending if it wasnt disposable income,maybe 5-7 years of really getting on board?

WOOHOO!

How are things looking out your way,feeling comfortable?

spuds... I'm pretty comfortable with the tropical storm issue (I'd better be after 50years on the Gulf coast)....competitive shooter for 30 years, and have a couple of firearm toys and a little skill...generator wired for a couple of days outage...upgraded the food pantry , and getting a pretty good system rotating what I use, but being single it takes a while....started with the long term staple food storage a bit (about 3 months)... but am holding off until after the election, depending on the winner...I changed my procedure from 5 gal buckets, to vacuum sealing in glass jars after watching the Wendy DeWitt videos....got a dehydrator and All American pressure canner..appreciate your comments and posts as I have not used the canner yet... thinking on pint jars for canning some chicken, pork, and ground beef...playing around with "earth boxes" to grow aromatics..garlic, onion, bell peppers, and sprouting beans for a dirtless garden...

Les,you will love the canner,and pints for meat seems ideal.We got the All American too,seems its the standard all others are measured against.

If you can find old jars buy them,I had a new crack cleanly off on bottom doing the pumpkin and so did Bud recently,and only loosely tighten the lids,they arent as strong as old by a long shot,2 fingers means 2 fingers LIGHTLY tightening band,just enough to hold it against lid to rim.

Until recently you could screw those bands on pretty tight and both jar and lid would survive pressure canning,no longer the case,jars are breaking (thin) and lids will deform if tight.

spuds... have you pressure canned any hot dogs?

No,I havent,never crossed my mind.Thats not a bad idea.

Next time I see Hebrew Nationals,my personal choice,I will run it by Mrs,if she is on board I do it,if not we talk why.

Hey,I did make Der Weinerschnitzel chili sauce for dogs,and canned it,then we freeze the rest when jar opened,its very good,so doing dogs,FINE idea!

Thanks.

Edit,Mrs likes idea too,off to look up canning Dogs!

OK,found this about best write up Ive seen.Also someone else packed em with sauerkraut and canned,seems real doable,use the standard meat canning times/pressures.

http://www.backwoodshome.com/forum/vb/archive/index.php/t-4540.html

And this for canning times

http://www.simplyprepared.com/canning_hot_dogs.htm

Looks like a fantastic idea,going to do it next sale.Think about it,Kraut or Chili dogs in a jar,ready to go,LOVE IT!

Thanks for the great idea Les!

LOL,we give cheap frozen Hot Dogs as dog treats.Pupsickles we call em.Snookie on couch,I said were going to make canned chili and Kraut dogs,she runs over to me ,all excited with big smiles,Yup,gotta be a winner!

No shopping here for weather events.....we are ready to bug in for a good while,only fuel is limited.Keep 2 vehicles minimum at least 1/2 filled at all times for backup fuel.

Congrats, Spuds!

As for me, I don't know if I'm ever "done" with my urban preps as I'm always tinkering/modifying, but after several years I now have a sense of satisfaction.

There will always be disasters or situations out of even the most fastidiously-prepared person's scope, but at least now I can say, I've done what I can.

And that Meadowlark is exactly the answer,you did what you can do.

Well done and and congrats back at ya!

Its kind of cool....Mrs made mashed taters from a mylar bag of storage from 2010 (Thank you Honeyville,we have a distribution Center about 20 miles away,LUCKY us),for the longest while all we did was stock,now we have stock and can start using / rotating them as the norm,not an emergency prep.

The flour,from stock.In the last month or 2 weve gone thru a 5 gallon Gamma lidded bucket in the house of flour ground fresh for the bucket from the stored wheat berries (Thank You LDS and the extremely kind and Generous Mormon VOLUNTEERS manning the place).

Really cool actually using the stuff too.

And the savings in cash,oh my gosh! We got stocked with wheat,sugar,oil,coffee,all before the price increases by keeping up to date on pricing/market trends found on various boards and blogs,just a good thing all the way around.

We still pick up a few things,like cranberries they do run out as we only stock a few.Now its mostly use a case of canned food,get another when on sale,or flour on sale as used and rotated through.

Mrs bought 25 lbs of sugar she got a good price on,for sure it will eventually be used and easy to store forever,so things like that we will add extra when the bargains happen.

Lots of folks dont have much space.My house is small,tiny kitchen,though we have more space next door,lets say we dont.

Recently Mrs has been most impressed with using the buckets with the screw on gama lids.Super for buying the bulk stuff and having at hand.Flour,sugar,rice,wheat,salt,milk,those kind if things.

We wont win any Home and Garden awards for our kitchen,but we hold a lot. The metal shelf,then the shelf reliant system,that puppy holds over 300 cans in a very small footprint,and it rotates them,first in,first out, I flat out love the system,have 2 of the larger next door.

LOL,house isnt quite that crooked,thats my fine photography skills shining thru!