Reply #128: in our area dry milk is as costly as fresh milk

[pitohui]

if you are afraid of the fresh milk going bad too soon be aware that you can put some of it in the freezer (leave room for the milk to expand in the container, altho it won't expand as much as water)

because of the high cost and inferior taste of the dry milk i actually switched the other way, to fresh milk, i just make sure to freeze some of it in individual containers since it's just the two of us

a gallon might last a month for us

the cost of canning supplies has been way too high down here for years, a more practical method is to freeze garden vegetables and herbs, i can't exactly run lab tests in my home but at least in theory freezing preserves more vitamins than canning does also

i love the freezing bananas trick, and bananas are something frequently found on sale compared to toher fruit -- my banana trees never give fruit so i have buy them -- most years i do get half a year's citrus just from my mandarin orange tree

soap is free, i would never deal w. lye and soapmaking again, there are too many ways to get free soap -- for instance, when you travel, they usually put out several bars of soap but you use only one in a week, take the rest home, people always want to give you soap for gifts for reasons best known to themselves, also if you STILL need soap you can get it from freecycle when people are giving away boxes of stuff, and finally very occasionally big bars of soap are given away free through various free-bates programs such as walgreens -- in short, i have a lifetime supply of soap barring some disaster that washes away my home (no doubt in a froth of bubbles!)