This Christmas we as a family decided to be more service oriented. Instead of buying a ton of gifts for us. We decided to do a couple kids on the giving tree. We also decided to donate to The Giving Cupboard. Our kids enjoyed doing all the shopping. It was fun. Our family's love language is service, as in serving others. It truly makes us happy to be permitted to help someone, be with others, and lift other's burdens, even if only for a moment.
Building your larder/pantry/food storage is a way you can lift your own burden. How do I find these sales? Sometimes I scour the ads on store's websites, and sometimes I just happen on them when I am in the store. How do I build my food storage? Slowly. I am not kidding. I was a very young bride, and I had no idea what food storage was. I had no idea why I had this urge to have a certain amount of food in my cupboards. If I had a little extra leftover after buying groceries, I would get something to put in my cupboard. Heck I didn't call it food storage, or larder, or engineering. When we first got married our pantry was a tiny cupboard by the sink. It had very little in it. Enchilada sauce, canned peas, canned corn, chicken noodle soup, tomato soup and if lucky a jar of spaghetti sauce. Looking back, it was a very weird combo.
When we moved to college, we had these huge closets in the hallway that went to the bedrooms and bathroom. They were giant! This apartment had the biggest closets we ever had in apartment living. They were even bigger than most houses have! They were amazing closets! I began accumulating more food stuffs in my closet. Still, I didn't really know how to cook well. I am so thankful my husband still ate it, and so did my baby (best eater ever!).
We moved to a different apartment that had just been built because the molds in the amazing closet apartment were bad for my asthma. This new apartment had this huge closet in the living room. It had some wire shelves on each end inside this closet. We filled them. Slowly. An extra can of chili, the next week an extra jar of spaghetti sauce, another week extra pasta. It builds, slowly. If it was a new food we hadn't had before, we would only buy one. No need to waste money, what if we didn't like it? We could always get more the next week if we liked it.
Now... I have 5 gallon buckets with hard white wheat, salt, sugar, oats and rice. I have #10 cans full of dried beans, cocoa, quinoa, millet.. I have cans of tomatoes, olives, peas, chicken.. I have condiments like pickles, mustards, ketchup, mayo..I have spices, I have medicine, I have home canned foods. When we first got married I never could have imagined all I would learn about foods, medicine, preservation of foods, how to sew..
It doesn't matter how old you are. You can learn to build your cupboard/pantry/closet/ or what ever you have (my college kids use a rubbermaid tote). It is a slow process, it is a learning experience. Find joy in it. And remember, if you have never had it only buy one to try. If you find a deal on something you use, make that be your can for the day or week. Store what you eat, Eat what you store.
#46: Vegetables
#47: Tomato Sauce
#48: Salsa
#49: Rotel
#50: Diced chilies
#51: Can or jar of NUTS (if not allergic)
#52: Nut butter (the one your family will eat)
#53: Stewed Tomatoes
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