Remember when food was scarce?????

 Do you remember when covid first started and food was scarce? Do you remember going to the store and all the shelves were empty?  I do, and ever since that happened I have had this slight fear in the back of my mind about having a food scarcity again and feeling so helpless.  I can remember once sending Brad to the store when our cabinets were starting to become bare.  I couldn’t have imagined how bad things were in the stores, but I quickly found out when he came home with 10 cans of bacon and bean soup.  I was mortified.  As I held that container in my hand all I could think was “what am I going to feed my child?  She can’t eat just anything.”  I was so worried and so scared, and felt so helpless.  Thankfully we never got to a point where we couldn’t feed her, but it was still terrifying because unlike someone who doesn’t have PKU the rest of us could eat anything if we had to.  So, since that happened the thought has stuck in my head.

Then came the formula shortages, and it once again brought that panicked feeling into the pit of my stomach.  I feared not knowing what I was going to do because we couldn’t get her formula.  Thankfully she was willing to try other formulas, and now we play the juggling act of ordering various types of formula.  Unfortunately the formula scarcity is still happening.

Anyhow, between those two things I have lived in fear off and on.  I am not one of those end of the world people, but the reality is something could happen.  What happens if Monkey Pox (which is now here) gets bad like covid did?  What happens if a war breaks out (there is the war in the Ukraine)?

So with these thoughts and fears in mind I decided I was going to do something about it. I decided I was going to buy a freeze drying machine, and a dehydrator so that I can store food for that just in case happening.  I also want to freeze dry and dehydrate foods for on those days I don’t want to cook.  On days I don’t want to cook we can grab a bag with food in it and reconstitute it…..this is especially important for my daughter with PKU since most things like t.v. dinners are not geared towards individuals with PKU.  

Unfortunately, I have to wait 8-10 weeks for the freeze drying machine to arrive, but in the meantime I am preparing for its arrival (bought a table for it to go on, bought Mylar bags, bought canning jars, a sealing machine, etc).  My food dehydrator, on the other hand is supposed to come tomorrow which I am excited about.  

I have also spoken with my mother about canning.  When I was a child she would do lots of canning of the fruit from our fruit trees.  I want to do something like this as well to create a nice stockpile of foods.  I called her today and asked her if she would teach me once I have foods to can, and she said yes.  If I like it then I plan on buying my own canning kettle, etc.  

One of the things I have to keep in mind when freeze drying and dehydrating is that things in this state will seem like less before being reconstituted.  This will be super important with things like freeze dried and/or dehydrated fruits.  It is often very easy to sit down and just eat one after another.  

I will try to remember to come back here and record more of this journey as I prepare safe and healthy foods for my family.