Money Mondays: Use Food Storage for your Thanksgiving Feast

This post is by Bernie Carr, apartmentprepper.com

This week, while you are planning your Thanksgiving menu, consider “shopping” from your food storage items that are nearing expiration.  If you are short on cash, this is also a way to save a few dollars.

So why not include some of your food storage items for Thanksgiving?

A few ideas

• Canned corn and green beans can be used for casseroles
• Mountain House Noodles and Chicken makes a tasty meal all by itself
• Use rice, chicken bouillon, dehydrated celery and dehydrated onion in your stuffing
• Use your stored vegetable or olive oils before they go rancid.  Oils only last about a year in storage before flavor starts to degrade
• Canned pineapple, pumpkin, or peaches can be used for pies.
• Flour and yeast can be used for your artisan bread

Conversation Starter

It’s a good bet that at least 80% of your guests will not be preppers, and may have misconceptions about stored food.   A lot of people still think that emergency food is mostly dry nutrition bars that no one likes.  While your guests are raving about your dishes, and talk turns to recipes and ingredients, casually mention that some of those tasty foods are actually from your storage pantry.   This may change their minds about the benefits of  storing foods:  convenient, delicious and cost-effective.

Review your Recipes Ahead of Time

As with any meal planning, you need to be familiar with the recipes you are making ahead of time.  Making something new that you have no idea how it’ll turn out may cause regrets.  I’ve had a few failures trying out new, untested recipes for a big event, so I don’t recommend it.  Use tried and true recipes especially if you are using food storage, and leave experimentation for another time.

Rotate your Stocks

I hate wasting anything, and using stored food for a nice meal, before they expire would be worthwhile.  Remember to replace what you just used with more recently purchased items.  There are a lot of great Thanksgiving sales going on, so take advantage of discounts when you replace your storage.   And when the meal is over, don’t neglect using your skills and avoid food waste.

 

For more tips on prepping on small budget, read my book:

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