Provident Living in Upper Kittitas County: Watch for rising dairy prices

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Watch for rising dairy prices

I started researching dairy price projections for 2010 after my daughter told me powdered milk prices had spiked at the LDS cannery in Ogden. As it turns out, 2009 was a devastating year for dairy farmers with surplus stock on hand and low demand reflective of our faltering economy. Bad news for farmers but makes for great grocery store prices on butter, cheese and milk.

But things are changing.

According to an Oct. 2009 article in Agri-View http://www.agriview.com/articles/2009/10/29/dairy_news/dairy05.txt, milk production is down in almost every state (including Washington) and demand is up - all the classic symptoms of prices going up in the ole supply and demand scenario. You've probably noticed those great butter deals are fast disappearing and powdered milk is climbing as well. Cheese prices will probably be next. Some forecasts predict butter, milk and cheese prices will continue rising and peak in September 2010 - good news if you are a dairy farmer. For the rest of us - time to stock up while prices are still relatively low!

Which brings me to this week's Fred Meyers' flyer which has an in-store coupon -
$3.99 each for two 2 lbs. blocks of medium cheddar cheese.
Below is a link with cheese storage tips if you are concerned about how long you can safely keep cheese on your refrigerator shelf. Bottom line - hard cheeses like cheddar that are tightly sealed can keep for several months.
http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/food/food_safety/handling/hgic3506.html

Lastly - Safeway has some great in-store coupons that are good through 1/19/10 and:
Progresso Soups for $1.11 a can.
Several brands of on-the-shelf juices are $1.49 when you buy 5 - another great stock-up item.

Happy shopping!

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Stockpiling food as a hedge against inflation?

Who doesn't need to supplement their income in an inflation- riddled, down economy? If you've noticed that it takes more money to buy less, you're not alone. A 2008 article in the Wall Street Journal entitled "Load up the Pantry" http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB120881517227532621-lMyQjAxMDI4MDI4MjgyMTI1Wj.htm discussed the realities of inflation and advised stockpiling food as the best hedge against the shrinking dollar (not to mention a good way to practice that Provident Living concept!).

Ten things you should always have in your freezer

Thanks to Pinching Your Pennies (PYP) for the following Provident Living tips!

Everybody has a list of staples they can't live without. Here's my list of staples to keep in the freezer.

1) Ice cubes! I don't use them a lot BUT it is nice to have some on hand when we have guests over. If you have a bag (even a small one) of ice cubes you can look at it to be able to recognize if your freezer is working properly. I keep a small bag in the deep freeze - if the cubes melt and then freeze together in a big clump you will know that there has been a problem, like a power outage.

2) Cooked Turkey. I typically buy 4 or 5 turkeys when they are on sale at Thanksgiving. They are kept in my deep freeze. I cook one about every other month and freeze it in small bags so it can quickly be reheated and used for casseroles or soups.

3) Cooked Ground Beef can be tossed into a sauce and served with pasta or mixed with taco seasoning for quick tacos or burritos. It's ready to be assembled in a casserole, dropped into a soup, seasoned for sloppy joes or mixed with beans for chili.

4) Cooked Rice is a huge time saver. Frozen rice can be reheated in minutes to serve as a healthy side dish or use as a ingredient in another recipe. My family definitely prefers eating regular rice over the quick rice products so having some in the freezer is great for nights when I need something quick.

5) Juice. I love the convenience of frozen juice concentrate. I think it has a longer shelf life than bottled juices.

6) Chocolate Chips -- not only for baking but for a quick mommy treat!

7) Homemade waffles or pancakes. I am not a fan of the ones from the grocer's freezer. Every few weeks I make a BIG batch and freeze them. They can be put into the toaster or microwave for a quick weekday breakfast.

8) Frozen Fruit is perfect for smoothies and desserts. Use frozen fruit instead of fresh fruit and you don't have to add ice to your smoothie.

9) Meatballs can be made into a million other meals. They are small so it's easy to grab just as many as you need and they thaw and reheat fast. My kids LOVE meatballs so I buy a big bag from Costco. They are precooked and quick to reheat. I make a spinach meatball soup that my family loves.

10)Homemade Broth or at least the item necessary to make it. I have broth frozen in sour cream and cottage cheese containers. I also have a bag of cut vegetable pieces (like the tops of celery and carrots) and I have a bag with leftover chicken trimmings and chicken bones that I will be making broth with soon.

Jo Ann's Tips for Provident Living

Jo Ann Carveth stores her quilts and afghans near the front door in a grab-and-go container in case of emergency. It's a trick she learned from her grandmother who turned Emergency Preparedness into a fun event.

Worried that her grandchildren would be traumatized by a real emergency - the family practiced hurriedly grabbing their emergency supplies, racing out the door and then heading someplace for a picnic! Leaving the house in a hurry became a fun event.

Other tips from Jo Ann:
-Store your garden seeds in the freezer and rotate through the packages every year or two.
-Keep a supply of matches dipped in paraffin to protect them from moisture.

Beryl's Tips for Provident Living

Beryl Roberts remembers the years she spent on her parents' homestead in Colorado as some of the happiest in her life. It was the middle of the Great Depression and times were tough, but her parents' thrifty habits got them through.

Some of their strategies for "Provident Living":

-Adding a little water to the liquid dish soap container to dilute the mix and make it last longer.

-Buying pancake syrup in five gallon containers, pouring out some of the syrup into another container and then adding a little water to make it stretch.

-Saving end pieces of soap bars and then melting them down in a pan and pouring the mixture into a lightly greased 8 x 10 pan. When it was almost set up, Beryl's mom turned the pan over and after the soap slid out onto a cutting board, cutting it into individual sized bars of soap.

--Halving the fat in a recipe by replacing half of the butter or shortening with applesauce or mashed bananas i.e. replacing 1/2 cup of butter with 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup applesauce.

--Adding a couple unwrapped sticks of spearmint gum into a flour container to keep out insects who hate the minty smell (but doesn't change the taste of the flour).

If you actually had to use your 72-hour kit, could you survive?

So the unexpected happens - even though you don't live in a flood plain, your garage fills with water after a week of torrential rain and starts seeping into your house. You have to get out and fast - so you wade through the garage on the way to higher ground with your 72-hour kits in tow.

After congratulating yourself for actually being prepared for a catastrophic event, you're left with the reality of what you have to live on. Those gallon ziplock bags holding sticks of gum, instant soup and a couple cans of tuna add up to about 600 calories a day.

It'll keep you alive, but not fueled for extra physical exertion that usually goes with an emergency, not to mention the increased mental and emotional strain.

According to one military dietician: "What and how much you eat and drink can mean the difference between top performance and struggling to complete the mission. In extreme conditions, it could be the difference between life and death." (CPT Lisa M. Giese, RD, LN; High Caliber Nutrition in the Field)

Click on the link below for 1500/2000/2500 calorie 72 Hour Kit menu suggestions: http://mormonshare.com/lds-activity/150020002500-calorie-72-hour-kit-menus

Provident Living in Upper Kittitas County

Emergencies by definition are unplanned