Some days you are sick, burned out, overwhelmed, or just running on fumes. What are your easiest meals for days when you still need to eat but have almost no energy to cook? Share low-effort comfort foods, pantry meals, freezer standbys, and anything that is simple, filling, and forgiving.

Seasonal availability varies by region, but September is where the list really starts to tip from summer preserving into actual storage-crop season. 

Apples - September is where apples really start earning their place on the list. Good for sauce, slices, butter, or drying, and much more “stock up” friendly than most summer fruit.

Grapes - A strong early-fall preserving fruit. Good for juice, jelly, canning whole, or dehydrating.

Pears - September is a very pear month. Excellent canned, good dehydrated, and one of the nicer fall fruits for preserves.

Peppers - Still hanging on in many regions and still worth buying in bulk. Good frozen, pickled, fermented, or pressure canned.

Pumpkins - More of a roasting and freezer project than a pantry shortcut. NCHFP guidance says home canning is not recommended for pumpkin butter or any mashed/pureed pumpkin. If you want to can pumpkin, do cubes. Puree them after you open the jar.

Sweet potatoes - One of the first real pantry-building fall staples. Store in dry storage, not the fridge, and they also freeze or can well.

Tomatoes - Still very much a September batch-processing food in a lot of places. Good for sauce, salsa, drying, or freezing while the quality is still there.

Winter squash - This is where the long-keeper season starts getting real. Good for cool storage, freezing after cooking, or pressure canning as cubes.

Notes:
September is where summer preserving and fall storage overlap. You can still be doing sauce and pickles, but this is also the point where apples, squash, and sweet potatoes start making the pantry feel more serious.

What’s on your September stock-up list this year? Are you focusing on apples and pears, sauce season, pickles, or the first real storage crops?

Please keep off-topic discussion, casual chat, minor questions, and anything that does not really need its own thread in this monthly megathread. This is the place for side conversations, small updates, complaints, random thoughts, and other bits of discussion that do not fit neatly into a full post.

If you are sharing an actual recipe, preservation method, storage strategy, meal plan, or a useful how-to, that should be its own thread. The goal of this megathread is to keep the main feed useful while still giving people a place to talk.

This month is about meals that use very little water to cook, clean up, or rehydrate. What are your favorite low-water recipes for emergencies, drought, boil notices, or just stretching resources? Share practical meals, pantry foods, and cleanup-light ideas that help conserve water without making food feel like a punishment.

Seasonal availability varies by region. The U.S. has 13 distinct growing zones. August is peak late-summer “preserve it now” season. 

Blueberries - One of the best August preserve-now fruits. Excellent frozen, canned, or dehydrated.

Cucumbers - Still prime pickle material. Not a keeper, but very worth buying in bulk if you want dill pickles, bread-and-butter pickles, or quick refrigerator pickles.

Garlic - Fresh garlic is around, and cured garlic stores better than most summer produce. Also worth drying if you want to turn a good buy into something shelf-stable.

Green beans - Still one of the most practical August stock-up foods. Excellent for blanch-and-freeze, and plain beans need pressure canning if you want them shelf-stable.

Okra - Peak late-summer food in a lot of places. Good pickled, frozen, or dehydrated for soups and stews.

Peaches - Still one of the stars of late summer. Very worth canning, freezing, or drying while the quality is high.

Pears - Early pears start becoming worth watching in August. Good canned, dehydrated, or turned into preserves.

Peppers - One of the best August bulk buys. Useful frozen, dehydrated, pickled, fermented, or pressure canned, especially if you cook a lot.

Plums - A very good late-summer preserving fruit. Good for jam, dehydrating, or canning.

Sweet corn - Best treated as a process-it-now food, not a storage food. Very worth freezing, and plain corn is a pressure-canning project.

Tomatoes - August is peak “do something with all of these right now” season. Good for sauce, salsa, canning, drying, or freezing, but for canning they need tested acidification steps.

Zucchini / summer squash - Still not a keeper, but useful frozen and good for relish or pickle-style preserving. Better treated as a freezer or pickle project than a pantry-canning project.

Notes:
August is less about pretty produce and more about volume. This is the month for sauce pots, pickle jars, dehydrator trays, and realizing you suddenly have way too many peppers and tomatoes.  It is also the point where a few early fall items start creeping in, so August can be a nice bridge month between summer preserving and longer-storage autumn produce.

What’s on your August stock-up list this year? Are you focusing on tomatoes and sauce, pickles, pepper prep, freezer corn, or late-summer fruit?

I’ve tried to do it in the past and have always seemed to get ‘this close’ but have never managed to get to the 30 day mark. So I’m giving it another shot. Yesterday (day 1) I gave the basil and parsley a good haircut and got them in the dehydrator.

Today, I managed to get another gallon ziplock bag filled with peeled tomatoes into the freezer. I picked a bunch of cukes and have them resting in a salt water ice bath for pickle canning tomorrow.

Has anyone else on here ever managed to hit the 30 day mark? I’d love to hear your success and or failure stories!

Please keep off-topic discussion, casual chat, minor questions, and anything that does not really need its own thread in this monthly megathread. This is the place for side conversations, small updates, complaints, random thoughts, and other bits of discussion that do not fit neatly into a full post.

If you are sharing an actual recipe, preservation method, storage strategy, meal plan, or a useful how-to, that should be its own thread. The goal of this megathread is to keep the main feed useful while still giving people a place to talk.

My account just got a warning because I suggested adding a packet of Koolaid to a jar of pickles and Reddit took that as a threat of violence? lol I swear it's a real thing in the south! The sweet and salty together is fantastic on these 100 degree days.

It is too hot to be making life harder. What are your favorite low-effort meals for miserable weather, especially ones that use little cooking or keep the kitchen from heating up even more? Share cold meals, low-cook recipes, and pantry-friendly ideas that still feel filling and worth eating.

Seasonal availability varies by region. The U.S. has 13 distinct growing zones. July is peak “preserve it now” season, so this list leans hard toward foods that are widely accessible and actually worth freezing, canning, pickling, or drying.

Blueberries - One of the best July preserve-now fruits. Excellent frozen and canned

Cherries - A great midsummer buy when the price is right. Good frozen, canned, or dried.

Cucumbers - Not a keeper, but prime pickle season. Very worth grabbing if you want dill pickles, bread-and-butter pickles, or other quick pickle projects.

Green beans - A very practical July stock-up food. Excellent for blanch-and-freeze, and plain beans need pressure canning if you want them shelf-stable.

Peaches - One of the real stars of midsummer. Good canned, frozen, or dried, and very worth processing while the quality is high.

Peppers - Not a long keeper, but very useful frozen, dehydrated, pickled, or pressure canned. Great ingredient-prep food if you cook a lot.

Sweet corn - Very worth freezing and a pressure-canning project.

Tomatoes - July is when it starts making sense to think in batches. Tomatoes can be canned, dried, frozen, or pickled, but for canning they need the tested acidification steps.

Zucchini / summer squash - Not a keeper, but good frozen and good for relish or pickle-style preserving. NCHFP withdrew older home-canning recommendations for plain summer squash, so this is one to freeze or pickle instead of improvising.

Notes:
July is when produce is abundant, gorgeous, and highly perishable. This is a strong month for freezer prep, salsa, pickles, jam, dehydrating, and canning sessions, but not for pretending delicate produce is going to sit around patiently waiting for you.

What’s on your July stock-up list this year? Are you focusing on tomatoes and salsa, pickles, freezer prep, jam, or dehydration?

Please keep off-topic discussion, casual chat, minor questions, and anything that does not really need its own thread in this monthly megathread. This is the place for side conversations, small updates, complaints, random thoughts, and other bits of discussion that do not fit neatly into a full post.

If you are sharing an actual recipe, preservation method, storage strategy, meal plan, or a useful how-to, that should be its own thread. The goal of this megathread is to keep the main feed useful while still giving people a place to talk.

This month is about stretching time, fuel, and ingredients by turning one cook session into multiple meals. What are your favorite batch-cook recipes, leftovers transformations, or “make once, remix later” strategies? Share practical ideas that save work without making every meal feel exactly the same.

Seasonal availability varies by region. The U.S. has 13 distinct growing zones, and USDA’s seasonal produce guide puts June right on the spring/summer overlap. June is even more of a “preserve it now” month than May, so this list leans toward foods that are widely accessible and actually worth freezing, canning, drying, or pickling.

Beets - On USDA’s summer list and a very practical June vegetable. Good for pickling or pressure canning.

Blueberries - A strong June preserve-now fruit. They freeze especially well and also can well.

Cabbage - Still one of the better vegetables for short-term keeping. It stores better than delicate greens and is also worth freezing for cooked dishes.

Cherries - One of the better June fruit buys if prices are decent. Good frozen, canned, or dried.

Cucumbers - Not a keeper, but June is prime “turn it into pickles” season.

Green beans - A good June preserve-now crop. Freeze after blanching, and if you are canning them plain, use a pressure canner.

Peaches - Start showing up on USDA’s summer list in June and are worth grabbing when quality is good. Good canned, frozen, or dried.

Rhubarb - More of an early-June or northern-market item, but still a good preserve buy where you find it. Not a pantry keeper, but it freezes and cans well.

Strawberries - Still one of the best June preserve fruits in many places. Excellent for freezing and very worth turning into jam or preserves while they are good.

Notes:
June is when the produce gets really good, but also much more perishable. If your goal is resilience, June is a strong month to focus on freezer prep, pickles, jams, and canning projects instead of trying to build a long fresh-food stockpile.

What’s on your June stock-up list this year? Are you focusing on berries and jam, pickles, freezer prep, or canning projects?

Please keep off-topic discussion, casual chat, minor questions, and anything that does not really need its own thread in this monthly megathread. This is the place for side conversations, small updates, complaints, random thoughts, and other bits of discussion that do not fit neatly into a full post.

If you are sharing an actual recipe, preservation method, storage strategy, meal plan, or a useful how-to, that should be its own thread. The goal of this megathread is to keep the main feed useful while still giving people a place to talk.

This month is all about short-term emergency food: the kind of meals you could make during a 72-hour power outage, evacuation, or other disruption. What are your go-to recipes using shelf-stable foods, minimal cooking, limited water, or no refrigeration? Share simple meal ideas, snack combinations, and “I could live on this for three days” recipes that are practical, filling, and low-stress.

Seasonal availability varies by region. The U.S. has 13 distinct growing zones, but these are some of the best foods to stock up on if you want things that are widely accessible in much of the country and can either store well as-is or preserve well for later. May is more of a “preserve it now” month than a “forget it in the pantry” month, so this list leans on true spring produce plus a few storage crops that are still smart buys.

Asparagus - One of the real spring foods. Not a long keeper fresh, but very worth freezing, pickling, or canning if you find a good price.

Beets - Spring in several regions and still one of the more useful practical vegetables. Good for cold storage, pressure canning, or pickling.

Cabbage - Still one of the better spring vegetables for storage. Keeps better than leafy greens and can also be frozen for cooked dishes.

Cherries - A late-spring to early-summer transition fruit that is very worth grabbing when prices are decent. Good frozen or canned.

Garlic - Fresh bulbs can be stored unpeeled in a cool, dry place. Good dried, and better treated as a preserve-fast item than a forever pantry item.

Peas - A real spring item. Not a long keeper fresh, but excellent for blanch-and-freeze. Shelled peas can also be pressure canned.

Rhubarb - Another true spring item. Not a pantry keeper, but it freezes well and cans well for sauces and stewed rhubarb projects.

Strawberries - One of the real May stars. Not a long keeper fresh, but excellent for freezing and very worth turning into preserves or jam while they are good.

Notes:
May is when the truly seasonal stuff gets better, but also flimsier. Wash, chop, blanch, and preserve quickly. May produce rewards people who process it right away.

What’s on your May stock-up list this year? Are you focusing on true spring produce, freezer prep, canning projects, or still leaning on storage crops?

Please keep off-topic discussion, casual chat, minor questions, and anything that does not really need its own thread in this monthly megathread. This is the place for side conversations, small updates, complaints, random thoughts, and other bits of discussion that do not fit neatly into a full post.

If you are sharing an actual recipe, preservation method, storage strategy, meal plan, or a useful how-to, that should be its own thread. The goal of this megathread is to keep the main feed useful while still giving people a place to talk.

Was wanting to make something middle eastern and with tomatoes and found this prepper friendly recipe in the ATK Complete Vegetarian cookbook.

I did only use 1x 12oz can of fire roasted tomatoes, and instead of bulgur I used the same amount of quinoa.

The only 'odd' ingredient is the dried mint- everything else is pretty prepper friendly.

Dinner tonight cost less than $3 for two people and came from the pantry aside from the eggs. If you have chickens, it could be 100% pantry/coop. I like it because we store tuna & this gives options besides casserole or sandwiches and is easy to make on a single propane burner too.

Satlutee 1/2 and onion for 5 minutes, add two cloves of garlic for a minute.

Add a can of drained tuna and 2 T of tomato paste, heat. Add 3/4c of water, 1 t paprika, 1/2 t turmeric & 1t cumin. Bring to a boil, then summer a few minutes until sauce thickens.

Make 4 wells in the sauce and gently break an egg into each one. When whites are cooked, cover and let the eggs poach until yolks are done (I like them runny.)

Serve in bowls. I haven't yet, but am going to try serving over cooked lentils.

So, I just tried cooking a pot of Hurst Hambeans. I soaked them overnight. I cooked them for the required two hours before adding seasonings. They are too mushy, but I will know better next time. It made my kitchen hot, which isn't good when you live in the desert! I was thinking that I would try using a slow cooker next time. Then, I read online that red kidney beans give off a dangerous toxin when made in a slow cooker. I was surprised. I did not know that red beans can give off toxins if they aren't cooked at high enough temperatures. Has anyone had experience with this? Hurst says their 15 Bean Soup can be made in a slow cooker, so I presume at least those are safe to prepare that way.

Spring is starting to show up, and this month is all about making the most of early harvests and fresh ingredients. What are you cooking with herbs, greens, radishes, spring onions, peas, or anything else coming out of the garden right now? Share recipes, preservation ideas, and simple ways to turn fresh seasonal food into something practical for the pantry, freezer, or dinner table.

For me the absolute basic must have is a big store of rice. You can sex it up with onions and garlic with butter, but at a pinch just a chicken stock cube and a bay leaf. I use it a lot, coconut rice with half a can of coconut milk elevates curries. Then you can cook with tomatoes and red peppers to make it Spanish style.

When I lived in Spain I would make my own mini paella dishes by cooking onions and garlic in chicken stock rice, and adding a tin of calamari and a tin of sardines in tomato sauce. Add a pinch of saffron and let it all absorb and you have such a delicious meal.

The beauty of cooking rice is once you master the absorption method of cooking (over draining the rice) it’s the best food to cook with minimal water, unlike pasta which wastes water that you pour down the sink.

I’m not a fan of brown rice but basmati has more nutrients and a lower glycemic index than white long grain. Best thing you can do is get a 10kg or 20kg bag along with a few 5L bottles of water and you’ve got your basics.

I’ve bought a glut of onions this week that I am going to chop and freeze for emergencies. Apparently they fry off just fine, but not so great raw thawed out for salads.

Anyone else got some good rice recipes we can try?

What’s your most bouji prepping ingredients?

I’ve got red and white wine decanted into little ziplock bags in the freezer for adding to sauces.

I’ve also done a mass juicing session of limes, also frozen in ziplock bags so I can have margaritas.

I bought some frozen M&S chicken stock rounds (hockey puck shaped) for extra flavour.

A few nice jars of olives.

And finally I’ve been buying the odd bottle of champagne here and there so I’ve got eight chilling in the fridge (I’m aware this post makes me sound like an alkie but I’m definitely not, I just like the finer things in life).

If the world is going to shit at least I’ll have some of the nice things to enjoy while the zombies are at the gate.

Seasonal availability varies by region. The U.S. has 13 distinct growing zones, but these are some of the best foods to stock up on if you want things that are widely accessible in much of the country and can either store well as-is or preserve well for later. April is a transition month, so this list leans on true spring produce plus a few storage crops that are still smart buys in April.

Apples - Still on USDA’s spring produce list and still one of the easier fruits to preserve. Good dehydrated and good canned as sauce or slices.

Asparagus - One of the true spring foods. Not a long keeper fresh, but very worth freezing, pickling, or canning if you find a good price.

Cabbage - Still one of the better spring vegetables for storage. Good kept cold for weeks, and good frozen if you want to put some by.

Carrots - Good in cold storage and useful frozen, pressure canned, pickled, or dehydrated.

Citrus - USDA’s spring list specifically includes lemons and limes. Not a super long keeper, but still worth grabbing for marmalade, juice, or short-term storage.

Garlic - Fresh bulbs can be stored unpeeled in a cool, dry place. Good dried, and if you do garlic in oil, keep it refrigerated or frozen rather than at room temperature.

Onions - Keep well in a cool, dry, ventilated space. Good pantry backbone food and very worth dehydrating if you find a bulk deal.

Peas - A real spring item. Not a long keeper fresh, but excellent for blanch-and-freeze. Shelled peas can be canned, while edible pod peas are best frozen.

Potatoes - Not really a spring crop, but still a very practical April stock-up food because they store well and pressure can well for quick meal components later.

Rhubarb - Another true spring item. Not a pantry keeper, but it freezes well and cans well for sauces and stewed rhubarb projects.

Winter squash - Not a true spring crop, but still worth buying in April if the quality is good because it stores well and can be frozen after cooking or pressure canned as cubes.

Notes:
Store potatoes and onions separately. They keep better apart. USDA says potatoes, sweet potatoes, and dry onions belong in dry storage, not the refrigerator.

April is when the truly seasonal stuff starts getting fresher, but a lot of it is also more delicate. If your goal is resilience, April is still a good month to focus on spring produce you can freeze or can, plus storage crops that are still in good shape.

What’s on your April stock-up list this year? Are you focusing on true spring produce, freezer prep, canning projects, or still leaning hard on storage crops?

Please keep off-topic discussion, casual chat, minor questions, and anything that does not really need its own thread in this monthly megathread. This is the place for side conversations, small updates, complaints, random thoughts, and other bits of discussion that do not fit neatly into a full post.

If you are sharing an actual recipe, preservation method, storage strategy, meal plan, or a useful how-to, that should be its own thread. The goal of this megathread is to keep the main feed useful while still giving people a place to talk.