Are you still prepping? I have about given up on trying to get people to stock up for "rainy days." No one seems to be listening or taking it seriously. Things change and not always for the better. The economy may be worse now than it was one or two years ago. I think people have become jaded, thinking things are getting better. Are they? The economy usually picks up in the spring and summer months because people are out and about and doing things that need to get done, spending money and using credit cards. I have no faith in the government's economic policy. I think it is a house of cards, built on sand and eroding away at the base. It will come tumbling down. I just can't convince anyone...call me paranoid.
I have had to to use some of my stocks from time to time out of one necessity or another. I plan on replacing and adding to my supplies very soon. It is OK to use some of your preps because then you can rotate them out and get more updated items into your stores. Most canned good will last a good, long time, but some canned goods may get a tinny...slightly metallic flavor. I guess then you could say your getting your minerals...hmm.
Home canning is my preferred method of "stocking up." Years ago I bought a book with that exact title-STOCKING UP. I believe PREVENTION put it out. I still have and use it. If you have or can find older cook books-when peoples were still cooking from "scratch,"- latch on to them and never let them go. If you have a good canner/pressure cooker or water bath canner hold on to it for dear life. Now-early in the canning season, stock up on canning lids and screw on rings. Do the same for paraffin and any supplies needed for preserving and pickling. There will be lots of home grown canners out there very soon with the same quests in mind.
If you don't know how to can, preserve or freeze, start learning. Most of what I know I have learned from my mother, my older sister or by trial and error. Trial and error are not the best teachers if you want to do it right and not waste time or food. There is always someone, usually someone older, who will teach the skills of home canning. Your local Ag. office or center will supply you with a lot of information, too.
A lot of peoples are afraid of pressure cookers. They shouldn't be. Especially because the new, modern pressure cookers are very safe and friendly if you just follow the simple directions. I use my mothers old pressure cooker with good results. It must be about 60+ years old now. When she passed away no one seemed to want it so I have it. After replacing the sealing ring, a handle and getting it up to canning condition...LOA!...everyone wanted it. So sorry. Mine now. It was part of my mother's history and now my history. If you don't have one some one in your family may have one. I have even seen them in yard sales. You can buy one, but they are expensive and I think the older ones were made better.
I had an onion from the garden and a sweet banana pepper with my hamburger this eveing. Both were fresh form the vegetable patch. The fruits of my labor. I sometimes wonder if all my hard work is worth it...and then I bite into one of Gods abundant offerings and say...yeah, it's worth it.
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