It's Inventory and Rotation Season!

Here at Heart's Ease Cottage we revolve around "Seasons" for many of our routines. Seed Starting Season,  Planting Season, Harvest Season, Food Preserving Season, Medicine Making Season, Inventory Season, Rotation Season... There are probably more but you get the idea!

The beginning of the year is our Inventory Season, for our business and our homestead. The business, because we have to pay taxes on our business assets and merchandise and since we are already in inventory mode we do our pantry and prep inventory as well. It is a slow and tedious process if we have gotten busy and not kept up with what we have acquired or used through the year. Unfortunately the last few years have been very hectic, so I have not kept up with record keeping like I should. So inventory and rotation is eating into time that I am supposed to use for Seed Starting season. It's all good though, I am used to keeping lots of balls in the air and multi tasking!

 We have several categories of preps to inventory, food stocks ( Current Use pantry, Three Month pantry and Long Term Storage), medical supplies, seasonal clothing and weather gear stockpile, camping and backpacking equipment (including Get Home bags and BOB), gardening supplies (seeds, seed starting medium ingredients, organic treatments and sprays, tools), construction and auto mechanic tools and supplies (stock pile of wood, selection of screws, nails and other hardware sharpening equipment, oils, gasoline, hand and power tools). As we inventory each category, we make note about what we need to rotate, repair, replace or update.

Right now I am working on the Current Use and Three Month pantry. There are a bunch of things in there that are in need of rotation, and some of the items that we usually keep a heavy supply of are running alarmingly low while I have been waiting for them to go on sale.

The pantry is in disarray as I rummage through to count things and
pull out items to be rotated. Eventually, the shelves will be refilled and in order.
This photo only shows 1/3 of the pantry so there is still much to do!

 In order to facilitate the rotation of things that need to be used, I had a 3 day cooking marathon last week. I made 2 gallons of potato soup, 3 gallons of Marinara Abbiatti (spicy marinara with capers, artichokes and oil cured Kalamata olives), 3 gallons of Vegan Gumbo and a huge batch of Vegetable Biryani. I rotated out of the pantry, aseptic containers of almond milk and used them in potato soup as well as a 10 lb. bag of red potatoes that needed to be used.

For the potato soup I roasted fresh garlic
and reserved half of the potatoes to be used in cubes
the rest are mashed to make it thick and creamy.

I season the soup with fresh dill, garlic, celery seed and white miso
 and add a tiny bit of almond milk to give it a creamy consistency.

I made marinara and gumbo using bottled organic pasta sauce and fire roasted tomatoes that were past expiration, but still in good condition.

I add fresh okra, bell peppers, garlic, onions and chayote
to the tomato sauce and fire roasted tomatoes that need to be rotated and
lots of spices to make a thick spicy vegan gumbo.

 The Biryani was made with long grain rice and canned mixed vegetables that were in need of rotation, with an array of distinctively Indian spices that I grind myself. It is not for the faint of heart, it has enough fire to give you a real endorphin rush!

The fiery Vegetable Biryani was divided into 3 categories
eat now, freeze and dehydrate.

The Biryani is ready to go in the dehydrator. It will take 12 hours or so to
get the vegetables dry all the way through. 

Dried Vegetable Biryani 

 A closer view of the dehydrated Biryani. It is important
 to make sure the vegetables get dry all the way through.
when completely dry they will crush to powder between
 thumb and forefinger.

To reconstitute rice pour in enough boiling water to just barely cover
 the dehydrated rice. Then cover with a lid or plate and let sit 15 minutes.

The reconstituted rice's taste and texture is very close to fresh made.
It is great to keep on hand for busy days when you are short on time.
It is also very useful for camping and backpacking or for the BOB.

For in house use I seal up the rice in FoodSaver bags or vacuum seal them in mason jars.
 For backpacking I reuse mylar bags from past long term storage packaging.
 I don't use oxygen absorbers in the pouches since it is not intended
to be kept for more than 6 months. The mylar bags are great
since you can pour the hot water right into the bag to
 reconstitute, this saves on cleanup when out in the woods.

I kept enough of each out for eating on this week and the rest went into 2 serving freezer containers. Some of the freezer containers went into the fridge freezer so I can access them for use without having to go outside.

I use the refrigerator's freezer for storing meals I intend for us to eat in the
 next week or so. The rest of the containers go
in the chest freezer in the outside pantry.

 The rest went in the chest freezer in the outdoor pantry to keep the chili and Coconut Sweet Potato soup from my last cooking marathon company. So now that I have used up the "going out of date" items from the 3 Month Pantry, I have big holes in my pantry stock that I need to fill. There is still much more to do, but I won't have to worry about what we are going to eat while I am buried neck deep in pantry inventory!

I would love to hear from you... It helps me feel less like I am talking to myself  <smiles> So please feel free to leave a comment. I promise to respond to your comments! Until next time! Elle

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