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JustAPrepper
10-14-2011, 03:07 AM
Every time I add a significant amount of "something", or do a re-organization of some sort, I always take pictures for insurance purposes. In the past couple weeks I've put together and loaded our Can Rotators (we got them for free from a friend who actually designs cardboard store displays...he got the plans off the net and made a bunch for us to test.) I also emptied and cleaned the Dry Good/Condiment Pantry and this week I added 36 Pints of Chicken to the Doom Room and did a little reorganization. I've never been one to worry much about OPSEC, especially when it comes to our food storage. If anything, I'm more worried about showing our things that go boom than a few cans of Chili or a few buckets of wheat.

This was a progression over time, about a year and a half, and took a few remodels. Some larger than others. The now Dry Good/Condiment Pantry has always been 6' long X 3' deep but used to hold everything. The Doom Room used to be DH's office and also held the spare bed for guests. The Canned Good Pantry used to be a small closet with double rods that held all my T-Shirts.

Now...The Dry Good/Condiment Pantry has had smaller shelves added to take up dead head space and allow for more storage. I gave up half of my office space to allow DH to move his office in with mine. We got rid of the spare bed and freed up the entire room. I emptied the T-Shirt closet, kept what I wanted and donated the rest. DH built and installed the shelves that now hold over 600 cans.

Both the Dry Good/Condiment and Canned Good Pantries are on Maintenance Mode. As we use a jar/can, they get replaced the next shopping trip. Some things in the Dry Good Pantry don't get replaced as our tastes change and we find things we don't like or are sick of eating so that particular pantry is always in a state of flux. As for the Doom Room, it's our Long Term Storage Room. While we rotate as much as possible, only the home canned goods need to be replenished on a regular basis.

***Everything is dated and as new things come in, everything gets pulled so the newest can go to the back. Now that I have a system, it really doesn't take that long to pull and replenish. Also, Blue Painter's Tape is my BFF. Anything with a slick label or something that a Sharpie won't stick to, gets Blue Painter's Tape. Santa delivers at least three rolls in my stocking each year.:cool:

Here's the Dry Good/Condiment Pantry...

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh140/Julie-Girl/FOOD%20STORAGE/100211PANTRY1.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh140/Julie-Girl/FOOD%20STORAGE/100211PANTRY2.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh140/Julie-Girl/FOOD%20STORAGE/b6cb54e2.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh140/Julie-Girl/FOOD%20STORAGE/100211PANTRY4.jpg

JustAPrepper
10-14-2011, 03:11 AM
Dry Good/Condiment Pantry continued...

The bottom left holds all our extra laundry/cleaning stuff and the bottom right holds any excess pantry stuff that I pull from when needed.

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh140/Julie-Girl/FOOD%20STORAGE/100211PANTRY5.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh140/Julie-Girl/FOOD%20STORAGE/100211PANTRY6.jpg

JustAPrepper
10-14-2011, 03:14 AM
The Canned Good Pantry...and its overflow...

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh140/Julie-Girl/FOOD%20STORAGE/101111CANNEDGOODS1.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh140/Julie-Girl/FOOD%20STORAGE/101111CANNEDGOODS2.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh140/Julie-Girl/FOOD%20STORAGE/100211CANNEDGOODS4.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh140/Julie-Girl/FOOD%20STORAGE/100211CANNEDGOODS3.jpg

JustAPrepper
10-14-2011, 03:17 AM
The Doom Room

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh140/Julie-Girl/FOOD%20STORAGE/101111DOOMROOM1.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh140/Julie-Girl/FOOD%20STORAGE/101111DOOMROOM2.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh140/Julie-Girl/FOOD%20STORAGE/101111DOOMROOM3.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh140/Julie-Girl/FOOD%20STORAGE/101112DOOMROOM4.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh140/Julie-Girl/FOOD%20STORAGE/101111DOOMROOM5.jpg

JustAPrepper
10-14-2011, 03:20 AM
Doom Room Continued

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh140/Julie-Girl/FOOD%20STORAGE/101111DOOMROOM12.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh140/Julie-Girl/FOOD%20STORAGE/101111DOOMROOM6.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh140/Julie-Girl/FOOD%20STORAGE/101111DOOMROOM7.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh140/Julie-Girl/FOOD%20STORAGE/101111DOOMROOM8.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh140/Julie-Girl/FOOD%20STORAGE/101111DOOMROOM9.jpg

JustAPrepper
10-14-2011, 03:23 AM
Doom Room Continued

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh140/Julie-Girl/FOOD%20STORAGE/101111DOOMROOM10.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh140/Julie-Girl/FOOD%20STORAGE/101111DOOMROOM11.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh140/Julie-Girl/FOOD%20STORAGE/101111DOOMROOM13.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh140/Julie-Girl/FOOD%20STORAGE/101111DOOMROOM14.jpg

JustAPrepper
10-14-2011, 03:24 AM
Doom Room Continued

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh140/Julie-Girl/FOOD%20STORAGE/101111DOOMROOM15.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh140/Julie-Girl/FOOD%20STORAGE/101111DOOMROOM16.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh140/Julie-Girl/FOOD%20STORAGE/101111DOOMROOM17.jpg

helomech
10-14-2011, 03:35 AM
Wow

RedJohn
10-14-2011, 08:26 AM
You ain't "JustAPrepper". You're ready!!

What is all this? 6 months worth for you and your family? This is impressive.

Good job also on the fishing rods and the emergency box.

izzyscout21
10-14-2011, 11:04 AM
W.O.W. Nice, Girl! You're Prepared with a capitol P.

Sniper-T
10-14-2011, 07:20 PM
:eek:

You make me feel so... inadequate...

lol

NICELY done.

ravensgrove
10-14-2011, 07:50 PM
I love the fishing rods in the Doom Room :) If I posted pics of everything we had stored, my husband would have my behind. Similar...yet I don't have any fancy can racks those are awesome, I just haven't ever wanted to invest in them. And you have more store canned goods than I do. Most everything we canned ourselves or swapped and I think I have alot more dry goods, but its hard to tell from the pictures. My primary concerns post shtf are: flour, sugar, salt, coffee, grains, beans, rice. Since I have so much livestock I have never concerned myself with canning meat, though with your tutorial did that last round. I have alot of vegetables canned, but likewise with all the gardens we have, I prefer fresh to canned. I try to keep a years worth canned, and the rest as we go. Great Job!

ravensgrove
10-14-2011, 07:54 PM
Did I see solar lights in there...thats smart thinking. I have back up pressure and water bath canners in mine, and the obligatory combat medic bags, but solar lights is a new one. I'm stealing that idea.

izzyscout21
10-14-2011, 08:17 PM
:eek:

You make me feel so... inadequate...

lol

NICELY done.

Yep. I feel like I have something to live up to now. SHoulda just namesd the thread "pantry porn";)

helomech
10-14-2011, 08:37 PM
I don't have a lot of food, just lots of animals to eat.

ladyhk13
10-15-2011, 01:12 AM
OMG! Totally awesome!!!!!! I showed this to my DH and said "hey I don't have a back up canner or pressure cooker :) " LOL!

bacpacker
10-15-2011, 02:02 AM
Holy Crap Justa. That is awesome. I thought a had a decent stock of stuff, it ain't near what you all have. The various storage set up's are well organized and laid out. VERY IMPRESSIVE.

mitunnelrat
10-15-2011, 02:34 AM
I am now insanely jealous. Thank you. :D

ladyhk13
10-15-2011, 05:53 AM
Hey Justa...you are making people look bad around here!

Stormfeather
10-15-2011, 06:08 AM
Im stealing a few ideas Justa! But after im done, will definitely take some pics and post them up here for ya to compare! Dont have fully as much as you do I think, because my canning skills arent arent up to par compared to yours I think! But WOW! very impressed!

izzyscout21
10-15-2011, 11:09 AM
Hey Justa...you are making people look bad around here!

Yeah, stop it! (J/K)

I'm going to have to go buy another gun now to compensate for my percieved food inadequacy

JustAPrepper
10-15-2011, 03:48 PM
Thanks, everybody.

This didn't happen overnight. It took us two full years. A little here, a little there. It adds up faster than you realize. That's why we kept moving things around and finally just "gave in" and dedicated an entire room to it. We also have more grains...some are stashed behind the loveseat and another 200 pounds of Wheat that needs to be bucketed. We've just been waiting for it to cool off a bit and the humidity to drop so we can do it outside along with the few loose bags that are on the floor of the Doom Room. Then, we are going to transfer some of it down to my parents house. As you can see, we are pretty much out of room and since they are our primary BOL we'd like to have a fair amount of storage at their place as a back up.

I think it was John that asked...according to the LDS food calculator we have roughly two years of food for the two of us, one year for the four of us if we head to my parents, not including the home canned proteins (430+ jars of meat). We're a little over on some things and a little under on the veggies but we are hoping the garden will supplement.

Both DH and myself like to fish and we used to own a fishing boat. We sold it when I knew the economy was going to tank and used the money to buy all our preps. We sold all the offshore rods and gear with the boat but kept all the others so those aren't anything we bought specifically for a SHTF type event. But, we do have the ocean and a few inlets and waterways close by so they'll definitely come in handy if we need them.

Raven, yeah, those are solar lights. The kind you put in your yard. They work great. Not enough light to read by but you can definitely move around the house with them and they are cooler than candles (burning candles after a hurricane in the middle of summer with no fans or A/C really adds heat to the room). I've also read somewhere on the net where some people are finding ways to add on/off switches to them so they don't keep glowing all night. I meant to show it to DH but I forget where I read it.

I'm going to make one more change to the Doom Room. I'm going to add two, maybe three, small shelves, one above the window and one above the closet door and possibly the entry door. I'm going to move all the plastics/aluminum foil up there and free up that space for more canned goods. Hopefully veggies from the garden this fall.

JustAPrepper
10-15-2011, 03:52 PM
ROFLMAO!!

I see I have a new title...Queen of the Doom Room! I LOVE it!!:cool:

mollypup
10-16-2011, 05:07 PM
Wow! You are definitely light years ahead of me! I thought I was doing pretty good but now I also feel so inadequate lol!
I noticed all the jars of mayonnaise you have. That's one of the food items I don't bother to store because I'm planning on a power-grid failure type of SHTF. Mayo doesn't keep after it's open unless it can be kept fairly cold. But, you know, if that's all I can find to pick at, then you are doing REALLY GOOD at prepping! Totally impressive I must say :D

I took my mom down to my basement a few days ago when she was staying with us and I showed her all the stuff I've been collecting. She looked at all of it and then with a look of fear and great concern on her face asked me how many others knew about this? I knew what she was thinking because if people find out I have this stuff they will not be nice in an attempt to take it. I was thinking about starting a thread about what can we do if the starving know we have food? I hate to say this, but sometimes I wonder if being part of the starving hoards is safer than trying to defend what you have. I don't know, it ain't gonna be good no matter how it goes down.

Again, I love your pics! :D

Sniper-T
10-16-2011, 05:42 PM
I am still in Awe!!

Couple things...

If you put the heavy 5 gallon pails on either side of your can rotator, it might give it a little more strength and not be like the leaning tower of Pisa standing on the leaning tower o Pisa...

And, for the solar lights, if they are the kind that I am thinking (with a hole in the bottom for a post to stick in the ground) They sit quite nicely on a table without the post, and by a window, will charge all day... and then be on all night.

Unless... when ready for bed, just pick them up and turn them upside down. The ones I have a switch in them already, so if they get knocked over they shut themselves off. They don't throw a lot of heat, but in the yard if one fell over into some dry grass, they could get hot enough to ignite it. Try them out, see if they're the same. If not, you can always just pull the battery to shut them off.

Dropy
10-16-2011, 07:04 PM
Ok, i am impressed, inspired and agitated that i am so far behind.

JustAPrepper
10-16-2011, 09:54 PM
Wow, thank you all again!

Please understand, this post was not meant to make anyone feel inadequate. We all have our own plan and we do what we can do, when we can do it. It was really meant to be an inspiration that even some Joe Six Pack couple like ourselves, that have a Little House in the Hood, can achieve it relatively quickly and more importantly, store it in a very small space. Our house is only 1100 square feet and I think that room is only 10x9. Water Filtration, Food Storage and the different things we'd need to prepare our food (Grain Mill, Solar Oven, etc.) were our first priorities. We also snuck in additional ways of protecting it all but we sold our boat to pay for it all, including the build out of the garden. There was definitely a trade off so now, instead of DH and I competing for who can catch the first or the biggest fish, now we garden to see who can grow the biggest or best tasting tomato. :p

Molly, it's funny you mention the mayonnaise. Back when I was working we would easily go through a jar a month because we both brown bagged it most of the time so they were being rotated quickly. Since I've been out of work the mayo hasn't been going as quickly and I just threw away five jars a couple days ago because they were five months out of date and were starting to look and taste a little funky. I'm sure by the end of the year I'll be throwing away another few jars unless we start eating Egg Salad for months on end, lol!

Sniper, good eye on the Leaning Tower of Pisa! Actually, when I put them together they were leaning the other way. I shimmed them with pieces of cardboard and they were straight, now they're leaning the other way. I'm thinking they are settling in and I can start removing the shims as needed. As for the Solar Lights, ours have the spike to stick in the yard but can be turned up inside like they are now for storage. I didn't know they made some with On/Off switches but I understand where that would be really useful especially if you want a "lights out" situation. The addition of the switch seemed simple enough but for a $3 yard light might be too much work. Now that I know, I'll be keeping my eye out for ones with switches. Thanks for the info!