Author Topic: Pandemic hoarding  (Read 262155 times)

GuitarStv

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #300 on: October 19, 2020, 09:24:21 AM »
As for those debating hoarding vs stocking - when it comes to food, my definition of hoarding is having more food in the house than you can eat before it goes bad. If you're donating food because it'll expire before you get to it, you hoarded.

We could certainly eat all of the food we stockpiled before the best by or expiration dates, which are years in the future, but I know a) we don't need to because we solved the fresh produce shortage when we found a produce wholesaler who started selling to the public, b) we don't prefer canned foods in general, and c) we bought canned corn because we couldn't get frozen, and once our preferred frozen option became available we bought that and planned to donate the canned.

When we were stockpiling, we knew all along we would donate some of it. Indeed, when I debated buying a case of canned corn, DH pointed out we could donate it if we didn't use it or frozen became available, which it did several months in. At the same time we were stockpiling we were also buying for the food bank -- in addition to non-perishable food we donated 240 individually wrapped rolls of toiler paper.

We did buy some canned foods we ended up not wanting. I had fond memories of Spam and au gratin potatoes from my childhood -- the taste didn't live up to the memories and meat ended up not being in short supply as long as one was flexible. I have one kid who liked the Spam and would have eaten it, but I decided to donate it anyway.  I kept the cans of corned beef hash (another memory that disappointed) for him. I didn't care for the canned chicken we bought, but we're using it in soup and make chicken salad for the guys to use in sandwiches.

The urgent need for food donations is now, not a couple of years in the future when the cans have a couple of months left before expiring. Our local food bank keeps sending out pleas for donations. When I bought a case of canned pumpkin last week I set aside half of it for the food bank. If I buy a two pack of oil I give one to the food bank.

As for canned vs. frozen or fresh vegetables, we prefer fresh, then frozen, with canned a distant third.
I used to do the same things for the Food Bank, until I got to take a tour. OMG, they are so efficient! They have such  great connections with manufacturers and growers that they buy food for way less than I can, even with my ninja shopping skills. Now I don't buy food, I give cash instead. I'm grateful that years of mustachianism has allowed me the freedom to give generously.

Earlier this month, my civic group hosted a city-wide Food Drive. We collected more than 19 tons of food and over $16k in cash. Someone from the Food Bank commented that the beauty of community food drives is the variety of food it brings in.  Mostly, it raises awareness, even if it is less efficient.

If you're interested, there is a picture and a video clip on the last two pages of my journal, which is linked below. No need to bother with the rest of my blathering, it's pure drivel.

Our food bank has told us that for food, donating money is the best option.
But they have NO connections to get discounted toilet paper. They are in dire need of toilet paper.  Ironically, they did a huge toilet paper drive in February, because the need was so great.  I can't imagine how bad it got in March and April...

Why does a food bank need toilet paper at all?

I went without toilet paper for several months this year.  It's not ideal, but certainly is not a necessity if you have a shower head in the room where you poop.

Cranky

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #301 on: October 19, 2020, 10:06:21 AM »
As for those debating hoarding vs stocking - when it comes to food, my definition of hoarding is having more food in the house than you can eat before it goes bad. If you're donating food because it'll expire before you get to it, you hoarded.

We could certainly eat all of the food we stockpiled before the best by or expiration dates, which are years in the future, but I know a) we don't need to because we solved the fresh produce shortage when we found a produce wholesaler who started selling to the public, b) we don't prefer canned foods in general, and c) we bought canned corn because we couldn't get frozen, and once our preferred frozen option became available we bought that and planned to donate the canned.

When we were stockpiling, we knew all along we would donate some of it. Indeed, when I debated buying a case of canned corn, DH pointed out we could donate it if we didn't use it or frozen became available, which it did several months in. At the same time we were stockpiling we were also buying for the food bank -- in addition to non-perishable food we donated 240 individually wrapped rolls of toiler paper.

We did buy some canned foods we ended up not wanting. I had fond memories of Spam and au gratin potatoes from my childhood -- the taste didn't live up to the memories and meat ended up not being in short supply as long as one was flexible. I have one kid who liked the Spam and would have eaten it, but I decided to donate it anyway.  I kept the cans of corned beef hash (another memory that disappointed) for him. I didn't care for the canned chicken we bought, but we're using it in soup and make chicken salad for the guys to use in sandwiches.

The urgent need for food donations is now, not a couple of years in the future when the cans have a couple of months left before expiring. Our local food bank keeps sending out pleas for donations. When I bought a case of canned pumpkin last week I set aside half of it for the food bank. If I buy a two pack of oil I give one to the food bank.

As for canned vs. frozen or fresh vegetables, we prefer fresh, then frozen, with canned a distant third.
I used to do the same things for the Food Bank, until I got to take a tour. OMG, they are so efficient! They have such  great connections with manufacturers and growers that they buy food for way less than I can, even with my ninja shopping skills. Now I don't buy food, I give cash instead. I'm grateful that years of mustachianism has allowed me the freedom to give generously.

Earlier this month, my civic group hosted a city-wide Food Drive. We collected more than 19 tons of food and over $16k in cash. Someone from the Food Bank commented that the beauty of community food drives is the variety of food it brings in.  Mostly, it raises awareness, even if it is less efficient.

If you're interested, there is a picture and a video clip on the last two pages of my journal, which is linked below. No need to bother with the rest of my blathering, it's pure drivel.

Our food bank has told us that for food, donating money is the best option.
But they have NO connections to get discounted toilet paper. They are in dire need of toilet paper.  Ironically, they did a huge toilet paper drive in February, because the need was so great.  I can't imagine how bad it got in March and April...

Toilet paper, diapers, dish soap , laundry detergent, pet food are always in HUGE demand because you can never get those with food stamps.

Cranky

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #302 on: October 19, 2020, 10:07:16 AM »
As for those debating hoarding vs stocking - when it comes to food, my definition of hoarding is having more food in the house than you can eat before it goes bad. If you're donating food because it'll expire before you get to it, you hoarded.

We could certainly eat all of the food we stockpiled before the best by or expiration dates, which are years in the future, but I know a) we don't need to because we solved the fresh produce shortage when we found a produce wholesaler who started selling to the public, b) we don't prefer canned foods in general, and c) we bought canned corn because we couldn't get frozen, and once our preferred frozen option became available we bought that and planned to donate the canned.

When we were stockpiling, we knew all along we would donate some of it. Indeed, when I debated buying a case of canned corn, DH pointed out we could donate it if we didn't use it or frozen became available, which it did several months in. At the same time we were stockpiling we were also buying for the food bank -- in addition to non-perishable food we donated 240 individually wrapped rolls of toiler paper.

We did buy some canned foods we ended up not wanting. I had fond memories of Spam and au gratin potatoes from my childhood -- the taste didn't live up to the memories and meat ended up not being in short supply as long as one was flexible. I have one kid who liked the Spam and would have eaten it, but I decided to donate it anyway.  I kept the cans of corned beef hash (another memory that disappointed) for him. I didn't care for the canned chicken we bought, but we're using it in soup and make chicken salad for the guys to use in sandwiches.

The urgent need for food donations is now, not a couple of years in the future when the cans have a couple of months left before expiring. Our local food bank keeps sending out pleas for donations. When I bought a case of canned pumpkin last week I set aside half of it for the food bank. If I buy a two pack of oil I give one to the food bank.

As for canned vs. frozen or fresh vegetables, we prefer fresh, then frozen, with canned a distant third.
I used to do the same things for the Food Bank, until I got to take a tour. OMG, they are so efficient! They have such  great connections with manufacturers and growers that they buy food for way less than I can, even with my ninja shopping skills. Now I don't buy food, I give cash instead. I'm grateful that years of mustachianism has allowed me the freedom to give generously.

Earlier this month, my civic group hosted a city-wide Food Drive. We collected more than 19 tons of food and over $16k in cash. Someone from the Food Bank commented that the beauty of community food drives is the variety of food it brings in.  Mostly, it raises awareness, even if it is less efficient.

If you're interested, there is a picture and a video clip on the last two pages of my journal, which is linked below. No need to bother with the rest of my blathering, it's pure drivel.

Our food bank has told us that for food, donating money is the best option.
But they have NO connections to get discounted toilet paper. They are in dire need of toilet paper.  Ironically, they did a huge toilet paper drive in February, because the need was so great.  I can't imagine how bad it got in March and April...

Why does a food bank need toilet paper at all?

I went without toilet paper for several months this year.  It's not ideal, but certainly is not a necessity if you have a shower head in the room where you poop.

Does everyone in your house take a shower every time they poop??

I'm a red panda

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #303 on: October 19, 2020, 10:30:32 AM »

Why does a food bank need toilet paper at all?

I went without toilet paper for several months this year.  It's not ideal, but certainly is not a necessity if you have a shower head in the room where you poop.

Most people in the US consider toilet paper a necessity.  Food banks provide it to people to help them have dignity.
(And it's not just poop. Most women typically dry themselves when they pee, including to wipe themselves when dealing with their period. Using a cloth isn't really a good option if you don't have access to inexpensive laundry, and laundrymats are EXPENSIVE to use.)

I am happy to donate toilet paper to our food bank to help those in need of it.
« Last Edit: October 19, 2020, 10:32:47 AM by I'm a red panda »

GuitarStv

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #304 on: October 19, 2020, 11:14:48 AM »
As for those debating hoarding vs stocking - when it comes to food, my definition of hoarding is having more food in the house than you can eat before it goes bad. If you're donating food because it'll expire before you get to it, you hoarded.

We could certainly eat all of the food we stockpiled before the best by or expiration dates, which are years in the future, but I know a) we don't need to because we solved the fresh produce shortage when we found a produce wholesaler who started selling to the public, b) we don't prefer canned foods in general, and c) we bought canned corn because we couldn't get frozen, and once our preferred frozen option became available we bought that and planned to donate the canned.

When we were stockpiling, we knew all along we would donate some of it. Indeed, when I debated buying a case of canned corn, DH pointed out we could donate it if we didn't use it or frozen became available, which it did several months in. At the same time we were stockpiling we were also buying for the food bank -- in addition to non-perishable food we donated 240 individually wrapped rolls of toiler paper.

We did buy some canned foods we ended up not wanting. I had fond memories of Spam and au gratin potatoes from my childhood -- the taste didn't live up to the memories and meat ended up not being in short supply as long as one was flexible. I have one kid who liked the Spam and would have eaten it, but I decided to donate it anyway.  I kept the cans of corned beef hash (another memory that disappointed) for him. I didn't care for the canned chicken we bought, but we're using it in soup and make chicken salad for the guys to use in sandwiches.

The urgent need for food donations is now, not a couple of years in the future when the cans have a couple of months left before expiring. Our local food bank keeps sending out pleas for donations. When I bought a case of canned pumpkin last week I set aside half of it for the food bank. If I buy a two pack of oil I give one to the food bank.

As for canned vs. frozen or fresh vegetables, we prefer fresh, then frozen, with canned a distant third.
I used to do the same things for the Food Bank, until I got to take a tour. OMG, they are so efficient! They have such  great connections with manufacturers and growers that they buy food for way less than I can, even with my ninja shopping skills. Now I don't buy food, I give cash instead. I'm grateful that years of mustachianism has allowed me the freedom to give generously.

Earlier this month, my civic group hosted a city-wide Food Drive. We collected more than 19 tons of food and over $16k in cash. Someone from the Food Bank commented that the beauty of community food drives is the variety of food it brings in.  Mostly, it raises awareness, even if it is less efficient.

If you're interested, there is a picture and a video clip on the last two pages of my journal, which is linked below. No need to bother with the rest of my blathering, it's pure drivel.

Our food bank has told us that for food, donating money is the best option.
But they have NO connections to get discounted toilet paper. They are in dire need of toilet paper.  Ironically, they did a huge toilet paper drive in February, because the need was so great.  I can't imagine how bad it got in March and April...

Why does a food bank need toilet paper at all?

I went without toilet paper for several months this year.  It's not ideal, but certainly is not a necessity if you have a shower head in the room where you poop.

Does everyone in your house take a shower every time they poop??

When there's no TP available at the stores they do.


2020 - Showing us what is really discretionary spending.

Blue Skies

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #305 on: October 19, 2020, 11:53:47 AM »

Why does a food bank need toilet paper at all?

I went without toilet paper for several months this year.  It's not ideal, but certainly is not a necessity if you have a shower head in the room where you poop.

Personally, I would much rather donate toilet paper to the food bank than the cake mix and frosting that our local food bank always has on their most wanted list...

If people can't afford food, is cake really that important?  Apparently around here, it is.

the_fixer

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #306 on: October 19, 2020, 12:27:31 PM »

Why does a food bank need toilet paper at all?

I went without toilet paper for several months this year.  It's not ideal, but certainly is not a necessity if you have a shower head in the room where you poop.

Personally, I would much rather donate toilet paper to the food bank than the cake mix and frosting that our local food bank always has on their most wanted list...

If people can't afford food, is cake really that important?  Apparently around here, it is.
Speaking from personal experience getting a birthday cake made from the food pantry supplies was the only thing I received for my b day at times and made my day.

I know it is not necessary to life as far as nutrition goes (probably has a better nutritional value that the blocks of greasy government cheese we would get) but it sure made my day and sometimes survival is about more than just nutritional sustenance.

I am guessing it also made my mom happy to see a smile on my face and who knows maybe it kept one or both of us going.

Let them eat cake


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GuitarStv

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #307 on: October 19, 2020, 12:39:02 PM »

Why does a food bank need toilet paper at all?

I went without toilet paper for several months this year.  It's not ideal, but certainly is not a necessity if you have a shower head in the room where you poop.

Personally, I would much rather donate toilet paper to the food bank than the cake mix and frosting that our local food bank always has on their most wanted list...

If people can't afford food, is cake really that important?  Apparently around here, it is.

LET THEM EAT CAKE!

Just Joe

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #308 on: October 19, 2020, 03:46:06 PM »
Don't forget to buy canned B&M brown bread in a can. It is very good!

I have been trying to find this in multiple stores, no luck yet.

One of my local stores has it and I have also ordered it on line. Maybe Walmart or Amazon. However, you might have to buy a case! Crazy, but that is what I did! It will last a long time and is very good for any meal of the day. Even a dessert!

https://www.walmart.com/ip/B-M-Raisin-Brown-Bread-16-oz/10291606   Pick up only

$20 per can?

K_in_the_kitchen

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #309 on: October 19, 2020, 04:31:59 PM »
Our food bank isn't just a food bank, they're a family services association and also work to provide housing, etc.  They do specifically ask for food donations in addition to monetary donations.  Usually they ask for canned goods, peanut butter, cereal, etc.  Mostly basics.  They also need personal hygiene items.  They accept gently used clothing and household goods.

I grew up poor and cake mix cake with canned frosting is what we had for every birthday.  I'll donate whatever they ask for without judgment.

AnnaGrowsAMustache

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #310 on: October 19, 2020, 05:15:16 PM »
Our food bank isn't just a food bank, they're a family services association and also work to provide housing, etc.  They do specifically ask for food donations in addition to monetary donations.  Usually they ask for canned goods, peanut butter, cereal, etc.  Mostly basics.  They also need personal hygiene items.  They accept gently used clothing and household goods.

I grew up poor and cake mix cake with canned frosting is what we had for every birthday.  I'll donate whatever they ask for without judgment.

I'm weirdly balanced between applauding your attitude to donating whatever they want, and wondering at what you consider to be poor with your cake mix story!

Runrooster

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #311 on: October 19, 2020, 07:04:21 PM »
While I share the distaste for canned veg generally, for some reason Im okay with canned tomatoes for cooking only. I like the petite diced as far as size, already peeled and the canning semi-cooks them.  It doesnt taste like fresh, but I dont expect it to.

Agreed.  Canned tomatoes are fine . . . probably because you're always cooking the crap out of the tomatoes to make a sauce anyway.

Glad to hear I'm not alone.  A month ago my grocery store offered $0.37 cans of 14 oz kidney beans, black beans, green beans, or corn, limit 12 per account, which means 24 for us.  I stocked up thinking it was a 6 month price, making two trips to do so.  Then this week they repeated the offer but with canned tomatoes instead of green beans or peas.  I guess everyone else got their fill, because the store was well stocked even of garbanzo beans which they'd run out of both earlier visits.  I bought 12 more beans, and 12 tomatoes. I usually try to stock 6 cans of the 28 oz tomatoes, and had just bought 3, but I'm sure they'll get used promptly.  The nice thing is that the ad only lists kidney and black beans, which we eat more slowly, but actually includes all beans.

But we are having tomato fights.  My Mom became allergic to table salt (but can eat sea salt) two years ago.  That ruled out canned tomatoes for her meals, but the first summer she had a nice bounty in the garden and I stocked up when they were cheap in the store.  This summer we didnt grow any and the prices never dropped below $.99 a pound if even that.  So its mid October and I resent paying $2/pound for fresh tomatoes with mediocre flavor that will be cooked.  I finally realized that hey, they sell no salt added cans of tomatoes, at either $1/28oz or $0.37/14 oz.  My Mom tried them and so far says they are not bothering her.  But, she still wants to cook with fresh tomatoes.  She offers to use less. Id rather use more and canned.  Id stop buying fresh but I want 2-3 for my daily fresh salads.  Which she will cook with unless I buy her 2-3 pounds extra.  I think maybe canning has gotten better because tomatoes dont have that tinny flavor I remember from decades ago?


GuitarStv

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #312 on: October 19, 2020, 07:19:48 PM »
My Mom became allergic to table salt (but can eat sea salt) two years ago

?

Is it the iodine that she has a problem with?  That's the only thing I can think of that would be in table salt but not sea salt.

Imma

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #313 on: October 20, 2020, 01:35:46 AM »

Why does a food bank need toilet paper at all?

I went without toilet paper for several months this year.  It's not ideal, but certainly is not a necessity if you have a shower head in the room where you poop.

Personally, I would much rather donate toilet paper to the food bank than the cake mix and frosting that our local food bank always has on their most wanted list...

If people can't afford food, is cake really that important?  Apparently around here, it is.
Speaking from personal experience getting a birthday cake made from the food pantry supplies was the only thing I received for my b day at times and made my day.

I know it is not necessary to life as far as nutrition goes (probably has a better nutritional value that the blocks of greasy government cheese we would get) but it sure made my day and sometimes survival is about more than just nutritional sustenance.

I am guessing it also made my mom happy to see a smile on my face and who knows maybe it kept one or both of us going.

Let them eat cake


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I know my local foodbank even has party boxes for kids. When it's your kid's birthday you get cake mix, treats that a kid could take to school, something like a bag of crisps and a bottle of soda to celebrate at home, and a small toy. Is it necessary for survival? No. Is it amazing for those kids to grow up like everyone else? Yes. I can't imagine how awful it must be for kids when you're the only one in class who can't afford to bring in a treat for your birthday.

They also hand out summer holiday boxes for families with children that include vouchers donated by businesses and grocery gift cards so families can take a trip to the zoo or the pool and bring their favourite treats from home.

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #314 on: October 20, 2020, 03:57:23 AM »
Don't forget to buy canned B&M brown bread in a can. It is very good!

I have been trying to find this in multiple stores, no luck yet.

One of my local stores has it and I have also ordered it on line. Maybe Walmart or Amazon. However, you might have to buy a case! Crazy, but that is what I did! It will last a long time and is very good for any meal of the day. Even a dessert!

https://www.walmart.com/ip/B-M-Raisin-Brown-Bread-16-oz/10291606   Pick up only

$20 per can?

It says $2.22 per 16 oz. can.

AnnaGrowsAMustache

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #315 on: October 20, 2020, 04:39:28 AM »
My Mom became allergic to table salt (but can eat sea salt) two years ago

?

Is it the iodine that she has a problem with?  That's the only thing I can think of that would be in table salt but not sea salt.

Table salt has free flow agents, maybe?

Runrooster

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #316 on: October 20, 2020, 08:57:52 AM »
My Mom became allergic to table salt (but can eat sea salt) two years ago

?

Is it the iodine that she has a problem with?  That's the only thing I can think of that would be in table salt but not sea salt.

Table salt has free flow agents, maybe?

My Mom has mouth sores which makes lemon juice difficult, as well as anything hard or sharp, plus spicy foods.  Grated cheese bothers her but not the expensive block cheese from Costco, but inexpensive cream cheese is great.  She's lost 20 pounds in 6 months despite a lifetime of failing to lose weight. At 145, this is a big deal. 

So, long story, it might be caking agents or iodine or both.  Pink salt seems to be okay only if it's something, I forget what. 

PMG

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #317 on: October 20, 2020, 09:55:48 AM »
As for those debating hoarding vs stocking - when it comes to food, my definition of hoarding is having more food in the house than you can eat before it goes bad.

This is a useful metric for me. We'd rather keep less food around, it's so much work to be shuffling things around and bursting at the seams. But this is what we need to do right now, and we are so fortunate to be able to. My guesstimate is that if we did not buy anything new we'd completely empty our cupboards in 3 months. We'd be very tired of beans, but we'd have enough spices to still have a little flavor through to the end. It's a continual dilemma whether to use things up or to just keep restocking things as we use them. As is we'll just keep adding and taking away and someday we'll get back to scheduling that around sales more than security.

One silly thing I am hoarding (in the sense that I am intentionally not using it up.) is some quinoa that I bought about 18 months ago. One brand was changing it's packaging so they had everything marked down to $1.50 - 1.99 a pound IIRC.  Great price. I stopped at several different stores and bought them out. I guess we've eaten 20 pounds of it, now we're finally down to the last package of that quinoa and I know I'm going to have to pay regular price again.
« Last Edit: October 20, 2020, 09:58:19 AM by PMG »

BicycleB

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #318 on: October 20, 2020, 03:14:54 PM »

Speaking from personal experience getting a birthday cake made from the food pantry supplies was the only thing I received for my b day at times and made my day.

I know it is not necessary to life as far as nutrition goes (probably has a better nutritional value that the blocks of greasy government cheese we would get) but it sure made my day and sometimes survival is about more than just nutritional sustenance.

I am guessing it also made my mom happy to see a smile on my face and who knows maybe it kept one or both of us going.

Let them eat cake


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Our food bank isn't just a food bank, they're a family services association and also work to provide housing, etc.  They do specifically ask for food donations in addition to monetary donations.  Usually they ask for canned goods, peanut butter, cereal, etc.  Mostly basics.  They also need personal hygiene items.  They accept gently used clothing and household goods.

I grew up poor and cake mix cake with canned frosting is what we had for every birthday.  I'll donate whatever they ask for without judgment.

@the_fixer, @K_in_the_kitchen - thank you for posting (and standing up for the dignity of kids in the same situation today. It may not be same as starving in some distant African desert, but the feeling of poor in our judgmental society can last forever. Sometimes a symbol of being valued makes a big difference).

mm1970

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #319 on: October 20, 2020, 04:03:37 PM »
Don't forget to buy canned B&M brown bread in a can. It is very good!

I have been trying to find this in multiple stores, no luck yet.

One of my local stores has it and I have also ordered it on line. Maybe Walmart or Amazon. However, you might have to buy a case! Crazy, but that is what I did! It will last a long time and is very good for any meal of the day. Even a dessert!

https://www.walmart.com/ip/B-M-Raisin-Brown-Bread-16-oz/10291606   Pick up only

$20 per can?

It says $2.22 per 16 oz. can.
When I click on it, it says $23.

AnnaGrowsAMustache

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #320 on: October 20, 2020, 04:23:29 PM »

Speaking from personal experience getting a birthday cake made from the food pantry supplies was the only thing I received for my b day at times and made my day.

I know it is not necessary to life as far as nutrition goes (probably has a better nutritional value that the blocks of greasy government cheese we would get) but it sure made my day and sometimes survival is about more than just nutritional sustenance.

I am guessing it also made my mom happy to see a smile on my face and who knows maybe it kept one or both of us going.

Let them eat cake


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Our food bank isn't just a food bank, they're a family services association and also work to provide housing, etc.  They do specifically ask for food donations in addition to monetary donations.  Usually they ask for canned goods, peanut butter, cereal, etc.  Mostly basics.  They also need personal hygiene items.  They accept gently used clothing and household goods.

I grew up poor and cake mix cake with canned frosting is what we had for every birthday.  I'll donate whatever they ask for without judgment.

@the_fixer, @K_in_the_kitchen - thank you for posting (and standing up for the dignity of kids in the same situation today. It may not be same as starving in some distant African desert, but the feeling of poor in our judgmental society can last forever. Sometimes a symbol of being valued makes a big difference).

Just FYI, in my post about cake mix, I wasn't referring to that poster's definition of poor in regards to another definition of poor being starving in an african desert. It was totally based on my own childhood, where cake mixes were luxury items! Mums baked birthday cakes from scratch. No one used cake mixes because they were expensive, and ordering a cake was absolutely unheard of. I remember getting some cake mixes as a birthday present once, given in much the same way that you might give a kid a necklace making kit or something - hobbycraft! I don't think I've bought a cake mix as an adult. They're frickin expensive and not even that good!

the_fixer

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #321 on: October 20, 2020, 04:29:09 PM »

Speaking from personal experience getting a birthday cake made from the food pantry supplies was the only thing I received for my b day at times and made my day.

I know it is not necessary to life as far as nutrition goes (probably has a better nutritional value that the blocks of greasy government cheese we would get) but it sure made my day and sometimes survival is about more than just nutritional sustenance.

I am guessing it also made my mom happy to see a smile on my face and who knows maybe it kept one or both of us going.

Let them eat cake


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Our food bank isn't just a food bank, they're a family services association and also work to provide housing, etc.  They do specifically ask for food donations in addition to monetary donations.  Usually they ask for canned goods, peanut butter, cereal, etc.  Mostly basics.  They also need personal hygiene items.  They accept gently used clothing and household goods.

I grew up poor and cake mix cake with canned frosting is what we had for every birthday.  I'll donate whatever they ask for without judgment.

@the_fixer, @K_in_the_kitchen - thank you for posting (and standing up for the dignity of kids in the same situation today. It may not be same as starving in some distant African desert, but the feeling of poor in our judgmental society can last forever. Sometimes a symbol of being valued makes a big difference).
Happy to share my experience. As a country we have such abundance that we (including myself) can forget about the people we do not see or share experiences with day to day.


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the_fixer

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Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #322 on: October 20, 2020, 04:46:53 PM »

Speaking from personal experience getting a birthday cake made from the food pantry supplies was the only thing I received for my b day at times and made my day.

I know it is not necessary to life as far as nutrition goes (probably has a better nutritional value that the blocks of greasy government cheese we would get) but it sure made my day and sometimes survival is about more than just nutritional sustenance.

I am guessing it also made my mom happy to see a smile on my face and who knows maybe it kept one or both of us going.

Let them eat cake


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Our food bank isn't just a food bank, they're a family services association and also work to provide housing, etc.  They do specifically ask for food donations in addition to monetary donations.  Usually they ask for canned goods, peanut butter, cereal, etc.  Mostly basics.  They also need personal hygiene items.  They accept gently used clothing and household goods.

I grew up poor and cake mix cake with canned frosting is what we had for every birthday.  I'll donate whatever they ask for without judgment.

@the_fixer, @K_in_the_kitchen - thank you for posting (and standing up for the dignity of kids in the same situation today. It may not be same as starving in some distant African desert, but the feeling of poor in our judgmental society can last forever. Sometimes a symbol of being valued makes a big difference).

Just FYI, in my post about cake mix, I wasn't referring to that poster's definition of poor in regards to another definition of poor being starving in an african desert. It was totally based on my own childhood, where cake mixes were luxury items! Mums baked birthday cakes from scratch. No one used cake mixes because they were expensive, and ordering a cake was absolutely unheard of. I remember getting some cake mixes as a birthday present once, given in much the same way that you might give a kid a necklace making kit or something - hobbycraft! I don't think I've bought a cake mix as an adult. They're frickin expensive and not even that good!
I agree that it is not the most economical and the pantry probably stocks pretty much everything you need to make a cake from scratch but there is also a need for easy to prepare items.

In my case my mom worked 2 full time jobs to support us, she was gone from daybreak until I put myself to bed most nights. To this day she can not cook. From grade school on up I did all of the cooking so boxed food was quick, shelf stable and easy enough for me to cook and few ingredients were needed.

If they gave me flour, rice, beans and ingredients not sure I would have been able to feed myself as my diet pretty much consisted of hamburger helper, noodles with butter, minute rice, dry soup mixes, Mac n cheese, canned food and goober grape PB&J.


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« Last Edit: October 20, 2020, 05:51:29 PM by the_fixer »

K_in_the_kitchen

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #323 on: October 20, 2020, 05:47:37 PM »

I'm weirdly balanced between applauding your attitude to donating whatever they want, and wondering at what you consider to be poor with your cake mix story!

I come from a working class family, but there were times we dropped below the poverty line.  I grew up with utility shutoff notices coming in on a regular basis (and the last minute scramble to pay it off hours before the shut off would occur), bill collectors routinely calling (and we kids had to answer every phone call to screen them out and say our parents weren't home), my parents having to take the sky high interest rate at a shady used car lot because they didn't have decent credit or the cash available to buy something outright, buying clothing at thrift stores and yard sales (I don't have a problem with this, but back then it was a necessity for us, not a frugal and eco-friendly choice), etc.  There was a period of time we were on AFDC, living in a dilapidated house converted into three apartments that were infested with rats and insects, literally stepping over drunks in the gutter on our way to the bus stop, where the neighborhood kids (including us) would run over to the Salvation Army and grab the out of date bread products being dropped off outside for the food bank before the volunteers had a chance to get it into the building.  I've had a Christmas where the only gifts we got were the ones from the people the Salvation Army gave our names to, along with a cat my mom adopted for free on Christmas Eve in the hopes he would take care of the mice and rats.  So I've been poor by just about every standard definition out there.  And as bad as it was, I know many people had and have it worse.

A cake mix and can of frosting is cheap compared to almost any other way of getting a birthday cake, and if bought on sale and made with sale eggs and cheap vegetable oil, is cheaper than making a homemade cake.  I'm not saying only poor people use cake mix -- I'm saying that for us, the cake made with a box mix and can of frosting made our birthdays special, and I'll donate it if the food bank wants me to.

One thing that nags me is how some people think the poor should be able to do certain things because it's never occurred to them how different it is when you truly don't have enough money.  For example, so often the advice is to buy in bulk, but you have to be able to get a little bit ahead with the grocery money before you can do that.  Or they should make a cake and icing from scratch, but you have to buy all the ingredients and if you aren't going to use them all (for example only need 3 cups of flour, half cup of cocoa, a teaspoon of vanilla, etc.), you've spent money on food you don't need.

I won't judge what the food bank asks for.  Right now they want boxed stuffing, canned green beans, cream of mushroom soup, boxed mashed potatoes, and canned gravy.  Those aren't the foods I eat at Thanksgiving, but I'm not above buying them for people who will eat them.  The ability to judge others for their food choices speaks of significant privilege.

K_in_the_kitchen

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #324 on: October 20, 2020, 06:00:08 PM »

Just FYI, in my post about cake mix, I wasn't referring to that poster's definition of poor in regards to another definition of poor being starving in an african desert. It was totally based on my own childhood, where cake mixes were luxury items! Mums baked birthday cakes from scratch. No one used cake mixes because they were expensive, and ordering a cake was absolutely unheard of. I remember getting some cake mixes as a birthday present once, given in much the same way that you might give a kid a necklace making kit or something - hobbycraft! I don't think I've bought a cake mix as an adult. They're frickin expensive and not even that good!

I suppose it depends where you live.  Even now, cake mix goes on sale for 69¢ a box and frosting can go on sale for 99¢, add 3 cheap eggs and a small amount of cheap vegetable oil, and you can still make a cake for about $2, so I imagine 40+ years ago my parents spent maybe $1 to bake the cake mix cake.  To bake a cake from scratch my mom would have needed to spend grocery money on ingredients in excess of what she would actually need, and that would have cost more than a cake mix.  Growing up we didn't have flour in the house, or vanilla extract, or cocoa powder, or even baking powder.  And we never had money for real butter, just the cheapest margarine spread.

I don't care for cake mix cake now -- I ate gluten free for several years because my son was diagnosed with celiac disease.  When I started eating wheat again, I could taste the chemicals in processed foods.

K_in_the_kitchen

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #325 on: October 20, 2020, 06:04:24 PM »
thank you for posting (and standing up for the dignity of kids in the same situation today. It may not be same as starving in some distant African desert, but the feeling of poor in our judgmental society can last forever. Sometimes a symbol of being valued makes a big difference).

So true!  Kids want to fit in, too, and I remember friends talking about their birthdays.  We always had a couple of gifts, too.  I knew my grandmother would send money and tell my mom to buy us a gift from her and my grandfather -- what I didn't know until much later was she sent extra so we would have a gift from our parents, too.

K_in_the_kitchen

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #326 on: October 20, 2020, 06:14:15 PM »

I agree that it is not the most economical and the pantry probably stocks pretty much everything you need to make a cake from scratch but there is also a need for easy to prepare items.

In my case my mom worked 2 full time jobs to support us, she was gone from daybreak until I put myself to bed most nights. To this day she can not cook. From grade school on up I did all of the cooking so boxed food was quick, shelf stable and easy enough for me to cook and few ingredients were needed.

If they gave me flour, rice, beans and ingredients not sure I would have been able to feed myself as my diet pretty much consisted of hamburger helper, noodles with butter, minute rice, dry soup mixes, Mac n cheese, canned food and goober grape PB&J.

I had to learn to cook food from ingredients after I was an adult.  My mom had a disability that took away the use of her hands, plus she'd been battered in her first marriage every time she made a mistake with cooking, so she wasn't keen on it.  During the divorce she was diagnosed with cancer, which weakened her.  By the time she remarried the cooking in our house was 90% done by my brother and I (he was 12, I was 8).  My dad commuted an hour each way to his blue collar job and worked 12 hour days, so he wasn't the one cooking.  We would rotate through Hamburger Helper, Mac ' n Cheese, TV dinners (bought on sale), hot dogs with canned beans, canned soup, canned hash with instant potatoes, etc.  I never saw raw rice or dried pinto beans before I married.  Sure, they would've been cheaper, but they weren't even the kinds of food we ate, so my mom didn't know how to cook them either.

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #327 on: October 20, 2020, 06:30:05 PM »

Why does a food bank need toilet paper at all?

I went without toilet paper for several months this year.  It's not ideal, but certainly is not a necessity if you have a shower head in the room where you poop.

Personally, I would much rather donate toilet paper to the food bank than the cake mix and frosting that our local food bank always has on their most wanted list...

If people can't afford food, is cake really that important?  Apparently around here, it is.
Speaking from personal experience getting a birthday cake made from the food pantry supplies was the only thing I received for my b day at times and made my day.

I know it is not necessary to life as far as nutrition goes (probably has a better nutritional value that the blocks of greasy government cheese we would get) but it sure made my day and sometimes survival is about more than just nutritional sustenance.

I am guessing it also made my mom happy to see a smile on my face and who knows maybe it kept one or both of us going.

Let them eat cake


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I know my local foodbank even has party boxes for kids. When it's your kid's birthday you get cake mix, treats that a kid could take to school, something like a bag of crisps and a bottle of soda to celebrate at home, and a small toy. Is it necessary for survival? No. Is it amazing for those kids to grow up like everyone else? Yes. I can't imagine how awful it must be for kids when you're the only one in class who can't afford to bring in a treat for your birthday.

They also hand out summer holiday boxes for families with children that include vouchers donated by businesses and grocery gift cards so families can take a trip to the zoo or the pool and bring their favourite treats from home.

I love this. Bringing treats to school on your birthday was such a big deal when I was little. Anything that gives a kid a bit of normalcy is a good thing.

the_fixer

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #328 on: October 20, 2020, 07:07:22 PM »

I agree that it is not the most economical and the pantry probably stocks pretty much everything you need to make a cake from scratch but there is also a need for easy to prepare items.

In my case my mom worked 2 full time jobs to support us, she was gone from daybreak until I put myself to bed most nights. To this day she can not cook. From grade school on up I did all of the cooking so boxed food was quick, shelf stable and easy enough for me to cook and few ingredients were needed.

If they gave me flour, rice, beans and ingredients not sure I would have been able to feed myself as my diet pretty much consisted of hamburger helper, noodles with butter, minute rice, dry soup mixes, Mac n cheese, canned food and goober grape PB&J.

I had to learn to cook food from ingredients after I was an adult.  My mom had a disability that took away the use of her hands, plus she'd been battered in her first marriage every time she made a mistake with cooking, so she wasn't keen on it.  During the divorce she was diagnosed with cancer, which weakened her.  By the time she remarried the cooking in our house was 90% done by my brother and I (he was 12, I was 8).  My dad commuted an hour each way to his blue collar job and worked 12 hour days, so he wasn't the one cooking.  We would rotate through Hamburger Helper, Mac ' n Cheese, TV dinners (bought on sale), hot dogs with canned beans, canned soup, canned hash with instant potatoes, etc.  I never saw raw rice or dried pinto beans before I married.  Sure, they would've been cheaper, but they weren't even the kinds of food we ate, so my mom didn't know how to cook them either.
I forgot about TV dinners - my favorite was the Salisbury steak with mashed potatoes, gravy, corn and apple dessert.

Fortunately I eat better now days but my mom is still helpless when it comes to cooking.

We were on the phone just last week and she turned on the oven for the first time since she move in two years ago because I talked her into cooking her frozen pot pie in the oven instead of the microwave.

She had to take out the doughnuts, chips and other “food” she stores in the oven.


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Just Joe

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #329 on: October 21, 2020, 08:34:27 AM »
Home Economics was such a useful class in middle school and high school. Honestly everyone would benefit from taking it. I didn't. It was a girls' class back then.
Also include personal finance and shopping effectively.

Then run everyone through a basic shop class - basic vehicle and home maintenance lessons including changing the car's oil.
Also - all the reasons we do maintenance in the first place.

Its easy to expect parents to do these as a matter of raising their children but it is so easy to overlook families who struggle with even the most basic life lessons.
I would have benefited from being able to cook as a bachelor. I ate so much crap back then.

NotJen

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #330 on: October 21, 2020, 09:40:03 AM »
Home Economics was such a useful class in middle school and high school. Honestly everyone would benefit from taking it. I didn't. It was a girls' class back then.
Also include personal finance and shopping effectively.

Then run everyone through a basic shop class - basic vehicle and home maintenance lessons including changing the car's oil.
Also - all the reasons we do maintenance in the first place.

Its easy to expect parents to do these as a matter of raising their children but it is so easy to overlook families who struggle with even the most basic life lessons.
I would have benefited from being able to cook as a bachelor. I ate so much crap back then.

I had Home Economics in 7th and 8th grades, but I don't remember them as being that useful (the classes as they were presented to me - not the concept of studying home ec all together).  I remember that we focused on cooking in 7th and sewing in 8th.  I had access/instruction to both available at home, so maybe that's why I don't remember them being so great - hopefully other kids got more out of it.  I did enjoy the break from academics.

I had shop class both years as well - we did drafting, woodworking, printmaking, and some basic engineering (though not presented as engineering) - I would have loved auto/home maintenance, but that wasn't part of the class.

Boys and girls were in both classes - we had no choice, the classes were just assigned randomly.

the_fixer

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #331 on: October 21, 2020, 09:48:21 AM »
I was one of two boys in a home economics class and I loved that class, we got to cook food and eat it and the following year I made a stuffed animal for my sister.

That along with business math (taught you to balance a check book / budget and useful stuff), shop and a construction class (we built a house) were the best part of school.


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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #332 on: October 21, 2020, 10:38:23 AM »
My friend Nina was the first girl in Orange County Florida to take shop class in 1969-ish? It was quite the battle to make that happen. I took the required home Ec class and did learn a lot that has proven to be useful, I admit, though I was mad about it at the time.

In my recent history, I ventured down to the IGA this morning. It was a little picked over in several aisles, but I did find toilet cleaner!

I’m going to make a big Aldi trip next week and then lay low for.. a while.

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #333 on: October 21, 2020, 11:12:49 AM »
I have two elderly dogs and each are on so many medications it would make your head spin. Both can be beyond picky eaters. Both weigh around 15-18 lbs. The younger of the two slipped on the stairs and fell down about 10 days ago and was in unbearable pain. I took him to the vets and they gave me pain and muscle relaxant pills to give to him. Which have worked miraculously however, this is the dog that takes 9 pills a day on top of these new meds. Because he has been hurting so much, he refused to eat and I worry about all these meds without food in his belly. I have tried chicken, roast beef, canned sardines added to the prescription dog food. He decides he doesn't like any of it and walks away. Leaving me tearing my hair out. So my latest addition to their food is cooked chicken livers. They love them and have been eating really good but now I am low on livers and have to make a trip to the grocery store to get more! So here is another food item I need to stock up on...who knew!

K_in_the_kitchen

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #334 on: October 21, 2020, 12:45:11 PM »

I forgot about TV dinners - my favorite was the Salisbury steak with mashed potatoes, gravy, corn and apple dessert.

Our favorite was the Swanson with Salisbury steak/gravy, mashed potatoes, corn, and chocolate cake.  We kids fought over the Salisbury steak every week -- I don't know why my dad bothered to buy any other variety.  We hated to get the sliced turkey in gravy.  Fried chicken was acceptable.

I just googled TV dinners and was reminded of the one that was franks and beans, apple slices, and chocolate cake.  Clearly it was aimed at kids.  We didn't get that one very often, but we liked that it didn't have a frozen vegetable.

For being "TV dinners", we never ate them in the living room on TV trays, in front of the TV.  Once my mom remarried we heated 6 of them in the oven (with a "Hungry Man" version for my dad), set the table with paper napkins, forks, and cups of milk or juice, and ate at the table with the TV off.  And now I recall how much we fought to be able to make TV dinners on our dishes night.  Of course back then the whole tray went into the trash with no rinsing.

I can't imagine liking TV dinners now, but we ate them once a week for years.

K_in_the_kitchen

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #335 on: October 21, 2020, 12:50:08 PM »
Home Economics was such a useful class in middle school and high school. Honestly everyone would benefit from taking it. I didn't. It was a girls' class back then.
Also include personal finance and shopping effectively.

Then run everyone through a basic shop class - basic vehicle and home maintenance lessons including changing the car's oil.
Also - all the reasons we do maintenance in the first place.

Its easy to expect parents to do these as a matter of raising their children but it is so easy to overlook families who struggle with even the most basic life lessons.
I would have benefited from being able to cook as a bachelor. I ate so much crap back then.

I took a semester of home ec in middle school -- it was the cooking semester, not the sew and iron semester, because my mom had no desire to help with sewing at home and the cooking class didn't have homework.  But we didn't learn how to cook much of anything.  We made things like juice from frozen concentrate, jello, instant pudding, cherries jubilee, which was ice cream + canned cherry pie filling + whatever we used to set it on fire, likely brandy and I doubt middle schools can do that now, biscuits using Bisquick. etc.  The class was definitely co-ed.  Instead of the sewing semester I took mechanical drawing (precursor to drafting), which had only a few girls.

K_in_the_kitchen

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #336 on: October 21, 2020, 12:53:12 PM »
I have two elderly dogs and each are on so many medications it would make your head spin. Both can be beyond picky eaters. Both weigh around 15-18 lbs. The younger of the two slipped on the stairs and fell down about 10 days ago and was in unbearable pain. I took him to the vets and they gave me pain and muscle relaxant pills to give to him. Which have worked miraculously however, this is the dog that takes 9 pills a day on top of these new meds. Because he has been hurting so much, he refused to eat and I worry about all these meds without food in his belly. I have tried chicken, roast beef, canned sardines added to the prescription dog food. He decides he doesn't like any of it and walks away. Leaving me tearing my hair out. So my latest addition to their food is cooked chicken livers. They love them and have been eating really good but now I am low on livers and have to make a trip to the grocery store to get more! So here is another food item I need to stock up on...who knew!

I'm sorry to hear your dog got hurt!  Will he eat his prescription food if you add something like chicken broth?  One of mine gets fussy about his food sometimes and broth usually helps.  I'm guessing maybe you've already tried it since you've tried so many other things.  If chicken livers work, would beef liver?  I would think you could cook it, puree it, and freeze what you don't need right away.

Just Joe

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #337 on: October 21, 2020, 01:08:37 PM »
Home Economics was such a useful class in middle school and high school. Honestly everyone would benefit from taking it. I didn't. It was a girls' class back then.
Also include personal finance and shopping effectively.

Then run everyone through a basic shop class - basic vehicle and home maintenance lessons including changing the car's oil.
Also - all the reasons we do maintenance in the first place.

Its easy to expect parents to do these as a matter of raising their children but it is so easy to overlook families who struggle with even the most basic life lessons.
I would have benefited from being able to cook as a bachelor. I ate so much crap back then.

I took a semester of home ec in middle school -- it was the cooking semester, not the sew and iron semester, because my mom had no desire to help with sewing at home and the cooking class didn't have homework.  But we didn't learn how to cook much of anything.  We made things like juice from frozen concentrate, jello, instant pudding, cherries jubilee, which was ice cream + canned cherry pie filling + whatever we used to set it on fire, likely brandy and I doubt middle schools can do that now, biscuits using Bisquick. etc.  The class was definitely co-ed.  Instead of the sewing semester I took mechanical drawing (precursor to drafting), which had only a few girls.

One of the family kids took a class like that - the teacher wasn't very motivated so there was a ton of missed opportunities to learn useful things.

Roadrunner53

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #338 on: October 21, 2020, 01:53:32 PM »
I have two elderly dogs and each are on so many medications it would make your head spin. Both can be beyond picky eaters. Both weigh around 15-18 lbs. The younger of the two slipped on the stairs and fell down about 10 days ago and was in unbearable pain. I took him to the vets and they gave me pain and muscle relaxant pills to give to him. Which have worked miraculously however, this is the dog that takes 9 pills a day on top of these new meds. Because he has been hurting so much, he refused to eat and I worry about all these meds without food in his belly. I have tried chicken, roast beef, canned sardines added to the prescription dog food. He decides he doesn't like any of it and walks away. Leaving me tearing my hair out. So my latest addition to their food is cooked chicken livers. They love them and have been eating really good but now I am low on livers and have to make a trip to the grocery store to get more! So here is another food item I need to stock up on...who knew!



I'm sorry to hear your dog got hurt!  Will he eat his prescription food if you add something like chicken broth?  One of mine gets fussy about his food sometimes and broth usually helps.  I'm guessing maybe you've already tried it since you've tried so many other things.  If chicken livers work, would beef liver?  I would think you could cook it, puree it, and freeze what you don't need right away.

Thank you! He was in so much pain I thought it was 'the end' for him. At times he laid on the floor flopping like a fish out of water and like he was having a convulsion. I still don't know what was going on other than he was in horrific pain. The vet and technicians were so nice and concerned about him. They called me on Monday after his emergency Saturday appointment to see how he was doing. K I have tried everything known to man to get these dogs to eat. The one older dog...almost 17 years old has been a fuss pot his whole life. He will go a day without eating and that is normal for him. But the other one that hurt his back, used to be  Mr. Piggy and got pretty fat and had to go on diet dog food. He did lose the weight but then developed other problems. Since then, he has lost his desire to eat. So since chicken liver is the new food that entices them to eat, I have to buy some more. I will buy some beef liver too. Called the local grocery store and they have chicken livers available so tomorrow I will do another curbside pick up. Anything for my 'boyz'!

I have also been mashing chicken livers with cream cheese to make liverwurst balls to put their pill into! YIKES!

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #339 on: October 21, 2020, 04:13:03 PM »
Home Economics was such a useful class in middle school and high school. Honestly everyone would benefit from taking it. I didn't. It was a girls' class back then.
Also include personal finance and shopping effectively.

Then run everyone through a basic shop class - basic vehicle and home maintenance lessons including changing the car's oil.
Also - all the reasons we do maintenance in the first place.

Its easy to expect parents to do these as a matter of raising their children but it is so easy to overlook families who struggle with even the most basic life lessons.
I would have benefited from being able to cook as a bachelor. I ate so much crap back then.

I took a semester of home ec in middle school -- it was the cooking semester, not the sew and iron semester, because my mom had no desire to help with sewing at home and the cooking class didn't have homework.  But we didn't learn how to cook much of anything.  We made things like juice from frozen concentrate, jello, instant pudding, cherries jubilee, which was ice cream + canned cherry pie filling + whatever we used to set it on fire, likely brandy and I doubt middle schools can do that now, biscuits using Bisquick. etc.  The class was definitely co-ed.  Instead of the sewing semester I took mechanical drawing (precursor to drafting), which had only a few girls.

My home ec was all cooking from scratch. We made pies. We held a tea for our moms. We learned that boys would like us better if we let them win at tennis. ;-) (Any boy who ever played tennis with me won easily because I am terrible at sports, but it did not improve my dating life.) We learned that we were supposed to dry the sink after we did the dinner dishes.

What was really useful was learning to plan how to make a meal with multiple dishes be ready at the same time - we wrote all the steps out.

In sewing we made a skirt and then a project of our choice and I made an elaborate lined cape with a hood, which someone stole when I was in college. I was just telling my dd about that cape last month!

Mind you, in 4H when I was 10yo old we baked bread from scratch and sewed a skirt (with a zipper) and a blouse (with buttonholes).

In Montessori, home ec is Practical Life, and my 7th and 8th traders cooked and sold a lunch every week, alternating between a full spaghetti dinner and pepperoni rolls with a side salad. We paid for our class trip every year with the profits. They also sewed pillowcases and made quilts. I ran into a former student last year and he showed me the leather bag he had sewn in college.

Roadrunner53

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #340 on: October 21, 2020, 04:22:46 PM »
So since chicken liver is the new food that entices them to eat, I have to buy some more. I will buy some beef liver too. Called the local grocery store and they have chicken livers available so tomorrow I will do another curbside pick up. Anything for my 'boyz'!

I have also been mashing chicken livers with cream cheese to make liverwurst balls to put their pill into! YIKES!

I know that it's off topic, but I love your dedication to your dogs! Your love shows.

Thank you! I do love my boyz and do all I can for them!

nessness

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #341 on: October 21, 2020, 05:25:33 PM »
While I share the distaste for canned veg generally, for some reason Im okay with canned tomatoes for cooking only. I like the petite diced as far as size, already peeled and the canning semi-cooks them.  It doesnt taste like fresh, but I dont expect it to.
I actually think canned tomatoes are better than store-bought fresh tomatoes for cooking - they are left on the vine longer, since it doesn't matter if they get bruised in transport, so develop more flavor.

Neither compare to homegrown tomatoes, of course.

SunnyDays

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #342 on: October 21, 2020, 08:21:24 PM »
Be careful not to give your dogs too much liver because it is high in vitamin A which can cause problems due to being fat soluble and not easily flushed from the body.  (My cats and dog love it too, but only get it once a month or so.  If you can’t get them to eat anything, try throwing food in the blender and syringing it down their throats.  Desperate times call for desperate measures!

Roadrunner53

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #343 on: October 22, 2020, 04:19:23 AM »
SunnyDays, Thanks for the information and I did look that up. Seems I am okay because I really only give them a little on their food to entice them to eat their dog food.

https://itsadoggiething.com/can-dogs-eat-chicken-liver/

AnnaGrowsAMustache

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #344 on: October 23, 2020, 09:21:06 AM »

Just FYI, in my post about cake mix, I wasn't referring to that poster's definition of poor in regards to another definition of poor being starving in an african desert. It was totally based on my own childhood, where cake mixes were luxury items! Mums baked birthday cakes from scratch. No one used cake mixes because they were expensive, and ordering a cake was absolutely unheard of. I remember getting some cake mixes as a birthday present once, given in much the same way that you might give a kid a necklace making kit or something - hobbycraft! I don't think I've bought a cake mix as an adult. They're frickin expensive and not even that good!

I suppose it depends where you live.  Even now, cake mix goes on sale for 69¢ a box and frosting can go on sale for 99¢, add 3 cheap eggs and a small amount of cheap vegetable oil, and you can still make a cake for about $2, so I imagine 40+ years ago my parents spent maybe $1 to bake the cake mix cake.  To bake a cake from scratch my mom would have needed to spend grocery money on ingredients in excess of what she would actually need, and that would have cost more than a cake mix.  Growing up we didn't have flour in the house, or vanilla extract, or cocoa powder, or even baking powder.  And we never had money for real butter, just the cheapest margarine spread.

I don't care for cake mix cake now -- I ate gluten free for several years because my son was diagnosed with celiac disease.  When I started eating wheat again, I could taste the chemicals in processed foods.

Yeah, they are definitely not that price here. A mid brand cake mix today would cost about $4. When I was a kid, they were three times that. The kind with the little baking trays and the frosting included were way out of the price range of most people except as a very special treat.

Things like flour, sugar, butter have always been standard grocery items here. Even students flatting for the first time would have most of that around. Pantry staples, maybe less so today. And they're cheap - I can get a couple kilos of flour and sugar for the price of a cake mix. It's slowly changing, but baked goods here are still far cheaper made at home.

I think our pricing comes out near opposite to the USA's, because most raw ingredients are made locally (I'm including Australia and the islands in this), but processed stuff is either imported or locally manufactured in fairly small batches (compared to the US). A 750ml bottle of water here is $2, but a 750ml bottle of coke is about $4. A cake mix is $4 but a 1.5 kilo bag of flour is $2. Apples currently are about $4 a kilo, but a can of chinese made apple pie filling is nearly that at $3.20. It's a lot cheaper to make your own.

Cranky

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #345 on: October 23, 2020, 10:59:28 AM »
Keep in mind that the NZ dollar is currently .67 US dollars - they’ve got the same name but are t the same currency, of course.

All the same, I haven’t seen cake mix for under $1 in ages, and the price of everything has really gone up this year.

AnnaGrowsAMustache

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #346 on: October 25, 2020, 04:52:22 AM »
Keep in mind that the NZ dollar is currently .67 US dollars - they’ve got the same name but are t the same currency, of course.

All the same, I haven’t seen cake mix for under $1 in ages, and the price of everything has really gone up this year.

We're always going to be a lot more expensive than you guys for processed foods. We're a very small market, a very long way away. Coke might be bottled here, but in minute amounts compared to a US bottling plant. The overlords still want the same profit margin.

Cranky

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #347 on: October 27, 2020, 11:00:19 AM »
Mega trip to Aldi this morning, because we’re going back to staying home - most things were in stock, but the canned beans were pretty low, there was NO canned pumpkin (not a problem for me because I’m well stocked) and tragically NO bacon.

Roadrunner53

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #348 on: October 27, 2020, 12:57:43 PM »
I had to go to my local grocery store yesterday to get a prescription and I have so much stuff, I didn't buy any food! That is not like me at all. But freezers, fridges, shelves are full...screaming full!

Captain Cactus

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #349 on: October 27, 2020, 02:13:41 PM »
I've been accumulating a variety of non-perishables over the past few months.  My wife rolls her eyes but I think she's glad we have it on hand.  It basically consists of dried grains, beans, etc... from Bob's Red Mill.  Also a few dozen organic canned beans from Amazon ($.99/each, free shipping), pasta, and some Raman Noodles (for me...love those). 

Still not visiting places frequently... no restaurants for us, with the exception of Chinese once a month or so.  One of us hits the store every 7-10 days for our regular stuff.  I suspect there will always be something in the grocery store, even if it's not our preferred form of sustenance.  Our non-perishable stash is designed to buy us some extra days between grocery store visits.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!