Fruits and Vegetables

Canned/Bottled

You can bottle a wide variety of things such as salsa, pie fillings, applesauce, juice, spaghetti sauce, almost any fruit or vegetable, pickles, all sorts of jams and jellies, etc.
If you can get fresh fruits/vegetables for free or at a significant discount, then canning them yourself can save you a LOT of money over cans from the store.
Home-bottled foods have less preservatives, taste better, and you can adjust the amounts of sugar you use to fit your family’s preferences. So we feel like it is worth it to can them on your own even if you have to purchase the produce.
Bottling can be a fun bonding experience with friends/family and also it is a great way to build up your whole year supply of items all at one time.
If you choose to purchase cans of fruits and vegetables, you can either purchase a extra few cans each time you shop until you have built up your year supply or stock up when there are good sales.

Frozen
If you have an extra freezer then frozen fruits and vegetables are another great option. If there is a water shortage then you don’t want to have all your foods be dehydrated.
Freezing produce takes much less time and preparation than home bottling, and can often be done using less sugar or other preservatives.
If you don’t have home-grown foods, you can purchase fresh produce in bulk to freeze, or simply buy bags of frozen fruits and vegetables and try to use sales and coupons.

Growing your own Fruits and vegetabes

We HIGHLY recommend learning to grow your own foods. This can range from just planting a peach tree and growing some tomatoes in a container, to a full-fledged farm-type situation.
Our favorite method to use for growing vegetables is square foot gardening which allows you to grow a LOT of veggies in a small space.
If you have space and don’t mind the mess fruit trees and vines can be a great cost-savings. You can also try to ask neighbors with fruit trees if you can pick their excess fruit.

Dehydrated
Dehydrated fruit makes a great snack with things like banana chips, craisins, dried apples, etc.
Dehydrated vegetables are wonderful additions to soups/stews. Items such as dehydrated onions can save you time and hassle in your everyday cooking.
You can purchase a food dehydrator like this one, or learn to make your own here.
If you don’t want to go through the hassle of dehydrating foods on your own, you can purchase a lot of the items at stores like Emergency Essentials.


Key Points:
Never run out of eggs again! The cans come with an average the equivalent of 226 eggs (18 dozen) in them.
They are cheaper-The average price for powdered eggs is $17.00 which makes a dozen eggs 94 cents!
Very EASY to use. The conversion is 1 T. egg powder + 2 T. water for a medium egg and 2 T. egg powder + 1/4 c. water for an extra large egg. (Remember that there are 16 T. in 1 C. to make multiple egg conversion easier) When baking you do not need to re-hydrate the eggs before adding to your mix, simply add the needed egg powder and needed water to your mix and proceed as your recipe outlines!
My other FAVORITE thing about them is that you can make a 1/2 egg with out the mess. Translation: halfing recipes calling for an odd number of eggs just got a whole lot easier!
Helpful Recipes for using Powdered Eggs:
Blender Crepes: An easy recipe for using your powdered eggs in breakfast foods.

French Toast with Orange Syrup: It’s easy to use powdered eggs even in things like french toast!

Other Resources for Powdered Eggs:

Breakfast Handout-Download my breakfast handout for more great information about eggs. Feel free to use it for yourself or to pass along to others.
Coming Soon! Visit my sister site, The Obsessive Shopper.NET for information on where to purchase powdered eggs.