evolution of a food prpper

[manowar]

i see alot of questions about storing food, i would imagine that is a thought that is foremost in anyone prepping, it is my major focus in my life.
So ..when i first started out my stored reflected my eating habbits. lots of cans of stuff on sale, rice beans, freezer full of premade food stuffs... not very creative, tasty, or really effective.
I have also been studying wild edibles for 4 yrs now and last year i hit a wall, i knew all the plants and mosty what to eat, but really how to make taste good.
ever hear the quote "nothing is constant but change". i beleive in this. today look at my food storage and it is all basics. i always looled at my shelves and thought what if i run out of this or that how do i replace, so i have focused on truly learning how to cook from scratch, i can now make my own bread, butter and condiments, sauces and such, which truly helps with food boredom, now not eating a can of beef stew that i stocked in the dozens, but make my own fresh, much better.
now that also bring me to what rawls says about being christian, i have all my empty peanut butter plastic jars that i plan to give out to travellers, a 3 day supply of rice and seasonings, or dehydrated meat and such.
i have got to tell ya this journey of learning how to cook from scratch has help me eat my wild edibles as now i can make them taste awesome.
what do i do with all those prepackaged foodstuff? well those are my bait foods i keep my good foods hidden in different caches on my property and keep the other food i won't eat there for the taking if a large group where to over run the homestead, then i could retreat and let them have the fast easy to carry crap.
my thinking is that most folks would not have a clue on what to do with scratch items, where me an mine will be healthy fueled and ready to face the world
Manowar

[protus]

why do you think FD is so popular. It is like a TV dinner. Only you add hot water,sit,wait, and enjoy a reconstitued steak with a side or reconstitued greens, and a nice warm dessert of reconstitued blueberry cobbler........

it takes effort to
mix the flour into a batter to make biscuts or bread, it takes effort to hunt down that rabbit or deer, it takes effort to know how to properly bucther and dress it.... it takes effort to have a profcient outdoor or even indoor pot power cooking arrangement.........

Most of this is a reflection of the drive thru instant meal society we live in. While we may buy foods at a farmers market or chain store, we always 99% of the time try and cook with our own hands. Its helped us be a healthier than if we were to continue on the instant food diet many live on.

[monkeybird]

Well I guess I won't be evolving a whole lot. I like FD exactly because they last 25 to 30 years, they are nutritionally adequate, they can be prepared with the minimal of fuel and are light and easy to transport.

While I respect those that can identify wild edibles and medicinal herbs, I fear making a mistake with those. Unless you know EXACTLY what you're doing wild plants can be dangerous. I've read the books and looked at the pictures, but you have to be able to locate the plant in the wild, prepare it for use and identify it with certainty.

I know that at this point in my life I cannot hunt and butcher an animal in the wild. Yes - I've been indoctrinated by my culture. While I know the meat from the grocery store was once alive, I appreciate that is it several steps away from the living animal. I've prepped to avoid having to hunt with the use of grains and beans and FD meats.

I admire those who prep to live right off the land so they are prepared for when they might have to. I'm just not willing to drastically change my life style until I absolutely have too. I know this is not a popular belief on this forum, but I'll bet my grit to survive up against anyone.

So, give me FD every single time.

[BeckyinTX]

Our thoughts are a mix of ya'lls & our food storage reflects that. We store instant meals that can be prepared with a minimal amount of time, effort, & fuel. Our thinking is in a SHTF situation, quick meals will be welcome during times of illness, harvest time or other times when the workload is large, or just for our mental health. We store rice, beans, pasta, wheat, corn, etc. as well. Those are going to be the bulk of our diet. We store a lot of canned meat, pasta sauces, cheese, spices, etc. to make those meals tasty. We store 6 months worth of root veggies at all times. The only FD we have are fruits (we eat them regularly) & in our bug out boxes. We have the tools for hunting & know how to hunt & butcher, although we don't figure that into our food storage. We don't figure our garden into our food storage either, even though we have a rather large one. (I don't know why :) ) Aside from wild berries, we figure we would burn more calories hunting the wild edible plants than they would provide. Dandilion greens may be tasty, but they have next to no calories. We have a deep freezer full of mostly raw meat, with one shelf dedicated to frozen meals (eaten at work when there's no leftovers to take) & ice cream (a necessity). We have enough empty canning jars & fuel to can the meat if we lose power long term. We have at least 6 months worth of what we call pantry items - instant potatoes, instant rice, canned goods, mac n cheese, peanut butter, baking mixes, condiments, etc. We have some home canned veggies, mainly tomatoes. We have a decent supply of home dried herbs, seasonings, & veggies. I won't even discuss the chocolate stash for fear of being shot here! lol I know our method sounds complicated, but it makes sense to us. We have meal plans & know exactly how long what we have will last & are comfortable with where we are. Our food plan is realistic for our family & takes into account everyone's preferences as much as possible. I love reading about what others are doing & why. I always take away a new idea to use to tweek our plan.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

I know that at this point in my life I cannot hunt and butcher an animal in the wild. Yes - I've been indoctrinated by my culture. While I know the meat from the grocery store was once alive, I appreciate that is it several steps away from the living animal.

While being useful there are a huge number of people to include "hunters" who do not process their own meat. I actually respect it when someone speaks up and says it rather than hiding until the moment of truth then ruining the enviroment with vomit or something. Not everyone is cut out for it and there are other tasks at hand within the group needing to be done. Even at deer camp someone cooks, someone cleans deer, someone tends to the equipment etc. Them with weak stomachs do not do the butchering, plain and simple nor are they asked to. My wife is one and I do not think less of her as she has saved my life before. I think if push come to shove it could change but in the meantime it should stay the same

[becky3086]

Humm, another interesting post. It does make me wonder sometimes if people who have prepped so well but don't know how to do these things won't die when they run out of food? I guess if you have a nice group or community where other people will do it for you that would be fine but who knows if you will be in that situation. I really feel you would have to be prepared for everything and producing your own food would be a part of that. I can butcher rabbits, quail, cut up a deer and my own chickens (going to get at least 7 of them done this weekend) myself. It's not pleasant but I can. There is always more I want to learn though. I would love to learn more about wild edibles. I know some but not nearly enough. I don't find that most of them are not all that hard to identify and there are some good videos that help a lot online. I think manowar is doing well. Keep learning.