February Week 2: peanut butter

This week's food storage item is:

February Week 2: peanut butter -- creamy or crunchy

Decide how much peanut butter your family will consume in a year's time. This will be an estimate, and may change from year to year, so just come up with a possible number, and then check to see what you already have on your shelves, and subtract those from your total number needed. Then, go to the store in the next day or two, and pick up the needed jars of peanut butter. Once you've got them home, get them on your food storage shelves, and then update your inventory sheet. In reality, the process should take you all of 10 or 15 minutes each week, so this is something even the busiest of families can do.

Buy whatever brand and type of peanut butter you usually use. I buy both creamy and crunchy, since I use both, whether in recipes or just on a sandwich. And don't forget, there are lots of yummy variations out there. Whitney just gave Bob a new variety for part of his birthday present. And to some of you, this is more of a want than a need. Depends on how much you love your peanut butter and chocolate.

Be sure to check the expiration stamp on the jars you are purchasing, so that you know these will last you as you rotate all year long in your food storage. Remember, this is a rotating food storage plan, which will do away with having to throw out old, expired food.

I know that peanut butter is often on sale at case lot sales, and that is a good time to stock up, though it usually won't be in conjunction with this schedule. You can definitely try to work around the sales, and just buy enough peanut butter to get you to the next case lot sale, if that is a better plan for you. Sometimes if I see that something is on sale, I'll just buy whatever I need and put it in my food storage. I can then just update the inventory sheets, and when it comes around on the schedule, I wouldn't have to buy as much.

Do whatever works for you, but continue to inventory the items as they come up on the schedule, and try to keep at least some of the items in stock at all times. Remember the point of all of this: to get started today building food storage and emergency supply items. It would be costly and difficult to buy everything all at once, but one week at a time, it is very do-able! And if it is too expensive to buy all the peanut butter your family might consume in a year, then buy a half a year's worth, or less. Just buy and store something!

If you would like the full info on the Week-By-Week Food Storage Plan, just click on the tab at the top of the page. You can then click on any single week and it will take you to the most up-to-date post that featured that week's items. It also has the information as to how you can get a copy of the weekly schedule as well as the complete inventory sheets.