Wal-Mart had marked down some big cans of preserved fruits and stuff, half-price, still expensive, but sounded intriguing. Freeze-dried red Raspberries, in about gallon-size cans. Shelf life marked 40 years! FORTY! I bought all three on the shelf. Each can produced 22 cups of raspberries when "reconstituted" with only water. They looked surprisingly like fresh berries, maybe a bit soggier, tasted exactly as they should! Here's what they looked like: The company is Auguson Farms, out of Salt Lake City, Utah. See: http://www.augasonfarms.com/ They have an amazing variety of different foodstuffs thus prepared, requiring absolutely no refrigeration or special storage requirements. I, of course, had ulterior motives from the moment I saw the berries at Wally-World: I immediately set about making Wine out of them! Here is the main reason for the OP. Our freezer compartment is ALWAYS critically overstuffed with foods bought on sale. A power outage of the sort we often experienced in Missouri would be disastrous. Today I came across an ad from a company offering the devices needed to freeze-dry your own foods! They only claim 25 year shelf life! What do you think? Gimmick, or go for it? Frank
I like Auguson Farms, and I have been buying items from them for several years now. I especially like their whey milk, Morning Moos. It is quick and easy to mix up, and tastes delicious. I have also tried some of the powdered honey, and I like that as well. They had a special last Christmas, and I also bought some of the chicken soup and cream of mushroom soup powder. The Morning Moos is also carried by Walmart; but only online, at least out here. It is actually cheaper to get it from Walmart and pick it up at the store than it is to order direct from Auguson Farms, unles they are having one of their big discount sales. It looks like you did great on the raspberries ! I will check our Walmart and see if they also carry that in the store. What section of the store did you find them in ? I think that the freeze-dried berries would be perfect for adding to my kefir morning smoothies ! !
THe one thing I want to find is powdered peanut butter. I was looking at several Weight Watchers recipes and the one thing they had in common was the use of powered peanut butter. I think I will have to go to a speciality store to find it, but then again they might have it at Walmart. I don't get their very often though it is a good 45 minutes from here,,,like most things!
@Yvonne Smith "What section of the store did you find them in?" They had perhaps 20-30 can of various product, all big cans, located between the "sausage" lining one wall which lies perpendicular to the regular aisles. Locationwise, I can do no better than that. Various other "mark-downs" were presented there, but their locating of such offerings seems to vary with the whim of, perhaps department managers and the phase of the moon!
We have seen this offered for sale in several locations recently. I paid scant attention, because peanut butter is to me take it or leave it. Here is one on-line source: http://www.vitacost.com/bell-planta...1600691|mt|b&gclid=CPOMkarVnM0CFciIfgodCOENUA I recently purchased from them (Vitacost) and was very pleased with their rapid service, and price. I bought Blueberry Extract capsules. Here is another: http://www.iherb.com/Bell-Plantatio...-184-g/38245?gclid=CMXssoXWnM0CFUmRfgodaMEK-Q
Bobby loves peanut butter, and we found the powdered peanut butter at Sam's Club; so he decided to try some and use it in his protein drinks. I think that he didn't care for it very much; because the jar just sat there in the cupboard until I finally moved it into the little bedroom which we use as kind of a pantry/storage room. I am not sure anymore how much it cost @K E Gordon ; but you should be able to find it at Sam's Club, and perhaps even at Walmart since it is all the same company. You could check Walmart online and see if they carry it.
I've never thought to look for freeze dried fruits. Now I wonder what else could add to my emergence pantry that would help me through power outages. We've had to go up to 3&1/2 weeks with no power. Generally it's not that long, but my home is where my extended family remembers to come in those times. Now I have been ordering freeze dried herbs, onions, leeks, red and green bell peppers, and teas for many years from the San Fransico Bay Herb company.
Yeah, I was thinking about that Yyvonne. Another possible location would be Amazon. They would have it for sure. They probably would offer the most brands for comparison shopping. This is just one of the things that I think I could get easy enough on there, but I am not sure what the shipping costs would be. That could be a bit of an issue.
Auguson Farms has just about anything, and in any size, that you might want to have on hand for emergency food, @Ina I. Wonder . While it is not cheap, it is reasonably priced, and they also have some good sales where you can order for close to half price. Some of the things will also be carried by Walmart, although I have not seen them right in the store before like Frank found. That is why I thought maybe there was a special section where they kept the emergency foods like this; but apparently he just found it in thee clearance section, so it could have come from any where in the store before that. Amaon also carries it; but this is one of the things where it costs more from Amazon; so I order the Morning Moos (whey milk drink) either from Walmart , and do a free shipping with in-store pickup, or I get it direct from Auguson when they have it on sale. The Morning Moos mixes just like powdered milk does; but has a much creamier taste. Since plain powdered milk does have more protein, I sometimes mix the two powders together, and then it has a better flavor and more protein overall. Bobby does not drink milk, so except for using it for making the kefir, we do not need to buy a lot of milk otherwise, and I can make the powdered milk as needed.