To help with this, coupon/frugality blog “Living Richly on a Budget” has a nice list that gives general timeframes that should give you ideas on when to buy. The list breaks out on each month the various holidays that have sales associated with them, as well as general harvest times, and grocery themes that most chains subscribe too. These are important as manufacturers and stores often work together to get the best deals during these sales. Combine smart use of coupons, along with planned bulk purchases and you can get that much more food into your families budget and storage.

An example of their January information:

National Oatmeal Month: Quaker
Diet Foods: Healthy Choice, South Beach, Lean Cuisine, Special K, Kashi, Smart Start, 100 Calorie Packs, Yogurt
Super Bowl Sunday: Pepsi, Coke, Chips, Dips, Cheese, Sandwich Items, Crackers, Snacks, Wings
Seasonal Produce: Oranges, Pears, Grapefruit, Tangerines, Broccoli, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chard, Collards, Kale, Kiwi, Avocado, Cabbage, Spinach
Clearance: Christmas Decorations, Toys, Wrapping Papers,
Winter Health: Cold Medicines and Vitamins

Living Richly On A Budgets’ Grocery Sale Cycles. I’d recommend using their nice printable version to keep a list along with whatever binder/clipboard or other organizational tool you use to keep track of your preparedness supplies.

Last fall I tried some Tattler reusable canning lids. I canned jam, tomatoes, and salsa with them. The Tattler company has been making these lids since 1976. They are two pieces–a plastic lid and a rubber gasket. You’ll need the metal rings that came with your jars or you can buy some extras on the Tattler site if you’re short on rings. The lids are BPA free and made in the USA. Tattler has them available for wide mouth and regular jars. The upfront cost of $7.00-$8.00 per dozen is, of course, more than the metal lids, but with regular re-use they pay for themselves pretty quickly.

Canning with the reusable lids is similar to using regular metal lids with the exception of having to loosen the ring just a bit before canning to allow the jar to vent and then tighten it after your jars are done processing. (For a full tutorial on using them, you can check my review of the lids on my blog.)

By the time this fall had rolled around, I had a number of lids from jars we had opened, and more canning to do, so all the reusable lids got used again without any problems with seal fails. Also, all the jars from last fall that used the reusable lids that we hadn’t opened are still sealed up fine. Sweet. Needless to say, I’ve stocked up on a bunch of these lids.

Last year's tomatoes canned with Tattler Reusable Canning Lids

Now, if you’re canning something to go into your county or state fair, or if you are planning on giving your canned goods away as gifts, use regular lids. When I did the salsa this year, I used some regular lids and some reusable lids thinking I would be sharing some for Christmas. However, sweet husband has since informed me he’s not parting with his salsa, so I guess I could have used all reusable lids!

Salsa--the white lids are the reusable ones

If you do a lot of canning and want to continue in a grid down situation without stocking a crazy amount of metal lids, the Tattler reusable lids are the lids for you. If you don’t do a lot of canning, these lids could also make a great barter item or even a great Christmas gift for that canner or preparedness nut on your list. After my year of testing, I’d say these are definitely a product worth checking out.

Goal 0 has been showcasing some of their portable solar products at Northern Utah Costco locations which is how we initially found out about their company. After talking with them about their products, company goals and outlook we quickly determined that this company produces products that fill a distinct gap in most of our current prepping equipment. Goal 0 currently has three distinct product lines of solar collecting and storage products, plus a catalog of accessories that will work with whichever product line you choose.

We’ve covered solar power a bit in the past. See Connor’s excellent article here. Generally though, we’ve found that determining what you need and what components are required to support your needs can be difficult. Most emergency power solutions provide their power capacity in Amp Hours while most devices we want to power use Watts. Determining how many Amps a device uses can be tricky as you need to determine both Peak Amps and the number of Amps to just keep running. A device like a Kill A Watt can help, but again this can still require some research and math.

Goal 0 solves this by using watt hour ratings on their devices. This makes your calculations as simple as saying a 60 Watt like bulb can be powered by a 180 Watt Hour device for 3 hours. No other complicated calculations are needed. Another benefit to this is that their power ratings are real world power ratings rather than “Peak” or “Theoretical” ratings. Often times manufacturers will display a peak rating as the power output for a unit. In practice however, the sustained output is much lower so with peak ratings you can sometimes end up buying something unsuited to your actual needs. This is particularly useful on their solar panels as their listed watt outputs and charge times are based on real world experience. Many other solar panels are rated at theoretical output or output before the final glass is attached. Neither provide an indication of what you might expect in everyday usage.

One consideration with Goal 0’s products that needs to be mentioned is that they are not generally meant to be whole home or large appliance power backups. Rather, they are meant to do things like provide emergency lighting, power laptops, cell phones, portable DVD players and other smaller but often essential electronic devices. Their current product offerings wont keep your freezer running, but they will allow you to see in the dark and use those electronic devices we have all become addicted to.

One of the key benefits to the Goal 0 products is that they are entirely Plug and Play. Everything “just works” since the components are designed with the system in mind. With other products I’ve found that determining what product to purchase to complete the system or how to attach it to the system has taken some research. Goal 0 has solved this issue. Each of their product lines provides power in the following formats: USB, 12 volt and 110/220 volt AC via inverter for powering plug in devices.

While all Goal 0 products are generally interchangeable with other Goal 0 products, there are some exceptions. Here is a quick summary of the three basic product lines that Goal 0 offers.

Elite

These are all in one light weight backpackable power sources that use lithium ion batteries for power. Per the Goal 0 web site, these are some of the uses: Day Use, Backpacking, Camping, Outdoor Outings, Hunting & Fishing, Photography, Expeditions, Extreme Activities

The power packs come in 50 watt hour and 120 watt hour portable power packs. Foldable flexible solar panels in 7 watt, 13.5 and 27 watts and a new product is a 4 AA or AAA battery pack that can be charged from a solar panel or one of the Sherpa power packs. Plus, the charger can be used to power a 12 volt or USB device using the AA or AAA batteries in it. AC power can be provided by a Elite specific add on inverter.

Escape

The Escape products are centered around an cylindrical power pack that provides 150 watt hours of power using a more traditional non LiOn battery. Hence, it is much heavier than the Elite kits. It features built in 12 volt, USB and AC outputs which provides for a one stop power source. For emergency purposes, this unit is typically meant to remain plugged into the wall where the charge controller keeps the battery at top performance. Should a power outage occur power is instantly available via the energy stored in the unit’s batter.
Per the Goal 0 web site, these are some of the uses: Day Use, Emergency Preparedness, Beach, Family Camping, Outdoor Outings

This range offers two different solar panel options, a 15 watt hard panel and a 30 watt foldable briefcase panel with built in stand.

Extreme

The Extreme range is built around large (and heavy) 350 watt hour battery packs that include Anderson Power Pole connectors which make them particularly handy for HAM radio power and for other devices that use these connections. The inverter for this system provides the USB, 12 volt and AC power outputs in this range. Per the Goal 0 web site, these are some of the uses: Emergency Preparedness, Cabin, RV, Photography, Expeditions, Hunting & Fishing, Base Camp, Field Hospital

The recommended solar panels for this series is a 30 watt solar panel.

**Note however that any Goal 0 solar panel can be used with any Goal 0 power pack. These seem to be only recommended panels based on the expected use for the unit. There is no reason you couldn’t use a foldable panel from the Elite range with a power pack from the Escape or Extreme range.

Accessories

The two main accessories I want to mention are the 12 volt Light-a-Life lights and the Estrella lights. Both are highly efficient 3 watt lights that put out an impressive amount of light and simply plug into the 12 volt output on any of the power units. Each light is also daisy chainable, meaning you can plug one light into the power source and then subsequent lights into the preceding light. Each light also features an independent power switch. This means you can turn off one light while the other lights remain on. This is a very nice feature as many other products are either all or nothing, or turning off one light means that all the other lights “downstream” from the power will also turn off. With this solution you have light where and when you need it.

The Light-a-Life lights are made to more or less replace a 45 watt light bulb. Each unit has a large number of white LED bulbs surrounded by a protective white plastic shroud that also serves to diffuse and distribute the light. An innovative sliding clip is attached to the power cord which allows you to hang each light and position it where you need it.

The Estrella light is also 3 watts, but uses a CREE LED bulb to produce a very powerful beam of light like a small spotlight. While the Light-a-Life lights are great for providing general lighting, around a camp for example, the Estrella would be perfect for areas where you need more direct light such as over a table or work area. These lights feature a flexible power cord that is meant to be used to help position the light and keep it in that position to put the light exactly where you want it. In practice however, I found that the light was heavier than the cord could support so it tended to droop.

We’ll use subsequent posts to allow our authors to describe what Goal 0 systems they purchased, why and what they think of them so far. As most of us purchased our systems before the New Year, we’ve had some time to use and get acquainted with both the good and the bad in each system.

Money by AMagill, on Flickr

Looking back on my list of things that I’ve “meant to blog” for a long time, I found a link I needed to share.  A friend of mine, and longtime follower of this blog, Erin McNew wrote an article for Yahoo’s Associated Content site about food storage.  I will of course take this chance to tease her for cheating on me, and posting to a different site, especially one that won’t allow for me to repost the content.  However I may tease though, It’s a great article written to explain to people how storing food is a sensible way to save money.  Something that most “preppers” understand, especially people usually interested in this blog.  However oftentimes people who wouldn’t normally figure themselves to be preppers, can still at least get back to some of the basics of previous generations.

Check out Erin’s article Saving Money by Storing Food for a nice introduction that could be very helpful in getting friends/neighbors/family to think a little more about adding to their food storage plans.

For those interested in maybe making a little money, or getting even better deals on some of the best, locally made food storage products, it might be in your interest to check it out.  It’s open to everybody, and they’ll be giving demo’s for people interested in how to use many of their products.

From their blog announcement:

The goal of Shelf Reliance Home Parties is to share the vision of preparedness and food storage with people across the country. There’s a certain sense of accomplishment that comes from building your own future while helping others prepare for theirs, and Shelf Reliance Home Parties is the perfect opportunity to experience this for yourself. Our great-tasting food and competitive pricing have made us a leader in the industry, and this new business opportunity will allow you to benefit from our history of excellence. Whether you’re interested in a career with Home Parties, want to host a few parties here and there, or just want to see what it’s all about, we invite you to attend and hope you’ll stay to chat!

When: Saturday, April 17th.

Place: Golf Clubhouse at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, Utah

Time: 1:00-5:00 PM (1-3 Open House, 3-5 Launch Presentation)

Admission: absolutely free

Dry Beans, clockwise from top: Calypso, Jacob's Gold Cattle, Jacob's Cattle, Black Valentine, Mayflower

One of my garden experiments this year was growing dry beans.  Most of the “survival seed” packs have a variety of beans in them.  I had five different kinds of dry bean seeds in addition to my usual favorite green bean varieties, so had plenty of beans growing in the garden this year.  The dry bean varieties I planted were Calypso, Jacob’s Gold Cattle Bean, Jacob’s Cattle Bean, Black Valentine, and Mayflower.  I also planted Blue Lake Bush Beans and Royalty Purple Pod Beans just for eating.

Growing dry beans is relatively simple.  You plant the beans as you would any other bean plant, in beds or rows, providing support if it is a climbing variety, then water them and wait.  The plants will grow beans that can be eaten as green beans when they are young, or if left on the plant, will get larger, turn yellow/brown, dry and be ready to be shelled for dry beans.  Funny thing is that all beans will turn into dry beans if you don’t pick them, some varieties are just better for eating dry than others.  The varieties of seed I had were all billed as non-hybrid or heirloom varieties.  But here’s an interesting fact: pretty much all beans are non-hybrid as they pollinate themselves before their flower opens.  Now you know.  So those Kentucky Blue Lake been seeds you have will produce more Kentucky Blue Lake bean seeds if you let them.  They do not need to be separated from other bean varieties by any distance or hand pollinated to maintain purity, so it is possible to plant a number of different bean varieties next to each other and still harvest pure seed from each variety without any extra effort on your part.  Which is what we did.

Jacob's Cattle Bean

The first variety of dry beans I planted were the Jacob’s Cattle Bean.  I put these in the ground just after Mother’s Day which is about as early as I want to risk planting anything here.  They are a bush bean plant and each plant produced heavily.  I picked the first round of dry beans from these plants in August, and got another picking before the end of the garden season.  I didn’t like this variety for green beans–there was a fine line between when the beans were too small and when they got too tough.  They produced really well as dry beans, though.  I planted approximately 80 seeds and got just over 4 lbs of dry beans by the end of the season.

Jacob's Gold Cattle Bean

I also planted Jacob’s Gold Cattle Bean, another bush variety which produced similar results as the Jacob’s Cattle Bean, except the beans were white and mustard yellow instead of white and maroon.  These were also not very good as green beans.  I planted these about 3 weeks after the original cattle beans, and only got one picking out of them resulting in just under 2 lbs of dry beans.  Both the original and the gold cattle beans had strong shells that were easy to open and get the beans out of when they were dry.

Mayflower Bean

The third variety was the Mayflower Bean.  This is reportedly the same variety that came over on the Mayflower with the Pilgrims, and if it was, I can see why they struggled with having enough to eat.  The Mayflower bean is a climbing bean, so I planted it alongside my corn so it had something to climb.  These plants didn’t produce nearly as well as the cattle bean varieties.  They had 1-4 beans per vine with an average of 1-6 bean seeds per pod.  They are a smaller bean than the cattle beans also, so this resulted in about a ziplock sandwich baggie full of beans from the same number of original bean seeds.  Pretty poor production.  Now, it could be my watering system, or my soil, or something like that, so your results may vary. ;)

Black Valentine Bean

The fourth variety we tried was the Black Valentine Bean.  This is a bush bean that was a heavy producer.  The beans were long and thin with 6-9 beans per pod.  These were really tender and good as a green bean.  When the bean dried it had a weak shell that was somewhat difficult to break open and get the beans out since it just wanted to break everywhere instead of snapping open nicely.

Calypso Bean

The final variety of dry bean we planted was the Calypso Bean.  This bean is really neat looking, half black and half white.

The kids called it a cow bean and my husband said it looks like a killer whale.  It is also a bush bean and produced very well.  These are a little “fatter” bean than the other varieties we grew.  They weren’t very good as green beans as they also had a tough shell, but were easy to shell when they dried.

We planted the Black Valentine and Calypso beans later than the Jacob’s Gold Cattle bean, so we only had a handful of dry beans from each variety when we expected the first hard frost.  There were still a lot of green and yellow stage beans on the plants, so the day before the freeze was expected we pulled the plants by the roots and put them in our shop so they could continue drying.  You could hang them if you wanted to go through the trouble of hanging a bunch of bean plants, but we just piled them in the wheelbarrow and on the floor of the shop.  We brought them out when it was warm to help them dry faster.  Over the next 4 weeks, all of the beans that were on the plants dried and we were able to get dry beans from them, resulting in similar yields as we got from the Gold Cattle Bean.  As much as we moved those plants around, I’m counting on stray bean plants popping up all over our property next spring.

Shelling the beans is easy, but time consuming.  I set the kids on it a few times and took beans to soccer games and shelled while I watched the games (yep, with a little practice, you too can shell dry beans without looking at them).  I still have a few in sacks waiting to be shelled.  After the beans are all dry and shelled, they should be stored in the freezer for 5 days to prevent weevil damage.

Now here’s the analysis of growing dry beans.  I planted quite a few bean plants (about 80 of each variety), and only ended up with 10-12 lbs of dry beans from the whole adventure.  I’m glad I wasn’t depending on these results to feed my family for the next year–keep in mind that out of that 10-12 lbs of beans I’d need to save some for seed.  I’m glad I grew them and I plan on eating each kind and planting the ones I like again next year, and maybe trying some other varieties.  They were a great kid garden project–the kids really enjoyed picking, shelling, and sorting the “special beans”.  But for the majority of the beans in my food storage, I’ll stick to buying beans in bulk or in cans.  They’re cheap and easy that way.

Three MonoVaults, 107, 212 and 152

Recently, some of the Utah Preppers authors met at the Crossroads of the West Gun Show in Salt Lake City. This is where we first met PolyFarm. After some discussions to learn about their production, they were kind enough to provide us with sample of one of their smaller MonoVaults to review and to beat up with some tests. I really like the idea of the product so I purchased a couple larger sizes so that we will be able to review several different sizes.

Above are the three models that we have on hand to test. As you can see, they range from small to very large. The large one is more than capable of holding two full size long guns with scopes attached with some room left over for other gear. The base product number is listed in each of the pictures below. All the models I have are “s” or Standard Models. They also offer “t” models that have an extra think sidewall for increased protection. Given their already sturdy construction, I don’t know if this is necessary for most applications.

Description of the tubes

The tubes are made from a “Heavy duty polyethylene extrusion” with a machined area to securely mount a Gamma Seal lid. Those of our readers familiar with food storage products are probably already familiar with these fantastic lids. If not, check out the link.

Gamma Seal lids are great, but aren’t particularly heavy duty. To account for this, Poly Farm developed a “Burial Shield” that slips securely over the lid to protect it. The burial shield acts as a heavy duty protective cap.  From their site:

In burial applications, the Burial Shield directs moisture away from the gasketed lid, keeps the lid area clean, protects the lid from soils and foot traffic, and protects the lid from excavation damage in recovery.

Of particular interest on their site, they show promotional pictures they took when testing some of the tubes, by loading a truck, as well as a front-end loader on top of the tube, in order to display the strength.  Worth checking out if you have some interest.  We might try that, but only after our burial tests.

Although Gamma Shield lids are great, I doubt they would hold up to repeated pounding with a shovel. The burial shield on the other hand appears to be proof against just about any sort of battery it is likely to see while buried or during recovery.

The shield goes on tightly but I doubt it is waterproof. If that is a concern for your application I don’t see why you wouldn’t be able to use a silicone sealer for enhanced water/moisture protection of your valuables.

An interesting note is that PolyFarm told us that it takes as much work to make a large tube as it does to make a small one. The extrusion process is the least of the work in both time and effort. Machining the lid area to securely mount the Gamma Seal lid is the most critical and time intensive part of the manufacturing process. This process leaves a one piece tube with no joints below the lid assembly. With the shield properly attached and waterproofed water should have no means of reaching the contents of the tube.

Below are some pictures showing the 212 model in grey.

MonoVault 212 empty

MonoVault 212 Cap off

MonoVault 212 protective cap

MonoVault 212 opened

The Green 107 model is shown below in several pictures and with a book to provide some perspective as to the depth of the container. This is the smallest model PolyFarm produces.

MonoVault 107 empty

MonoVault 107 with a Triple Combination inside to show size

MonoVault 107 Cap Off

MonoVault 107 top

In an upcoming post we will be burying several of these tubes and comparing their performance over a 30 day burial with the cheaper PVC pipe alternative.

Stay Tuned!

Mossberg 500 JIC

I have to admit that I have been a little obsessed with finding a decent option for burying, sinking or otherwise hiding a firearm and other preps since I first saw Mossberg’s Just In Case line of products a number of years ago.

In case you aren’t familiar with it, the line includes a Mossberg 500 shotgun in a pistol grip configuration, a highly durable waterproof tube and depending on the version a survival kit, multi-tool, etc. For some reason I just fell in love with the idea of being able to tie a concrete block to a tube and toss it into a pond to hide it, or bury it somewhere up in the woods.

I can add my own survival kit and tools instead of relying on what I am sure is cheap Chinese made junk and I already own a number of shotguns and have never been a fan of the 500′s so I was more interested in the tube itself. Unfortunately, Mossberg doesn’t sell the tube by itself nor have I been able to discern the manufacturer.

In the few years since the JIC was introduced I’ve read a fair number of articles, reviews and opinion pieces on the Interwebs concerned with burying firearms or other supplies. People seem to have very differing opinions on all aspects of the subject, ranging from whether it will ever be necessary or even prudent to whether there is any way to successfully store a firearm in the ground for any period of time.

In my mind, the question was answered in January 2008 when an author for Backwoods Home magazine wrote an article describing his 15 year experiment burying and finding a Ruger Mini-14 The author used grease, mylar bags and PVC pipe to successfully bury, store and retrieve a rifle, ammunition and some tools in a wooded area for 15 years.

Some take-aways from this article

• Preparation is key. Be sure to properly prep and seal the contents and container against the elements.
• Find at least three immovable landmarks and measure from them to your burial location.
• Landscapes change over time and memories become distorted. Take non-descript pictures if possible before you dig
• Scout out your location before hand. Be familiar with the area you are planning to use. Know when people are there and when

In addition to PVC piping there are now a number of companies providing burial tubes and other products of a similar nature to preppers. The folk at PolyFarm of Idaho were kind enough to provide us with a sample of one of their products which we will review and test in a follow up post.

Our plan is to review the products offered by PolyFarm; then in a subsequent post start a one month side by side burial test to compare the PolyFarm MonoVault to the cheaper PVC alternative. We will also plan to discuss the methods we used to triangulate the location and some methods to help disguise the location from metal detectors or other detection techniques.

Stay tuned!

The Bug Out Vehicle (BOV) is an essential part of every preppers inventory.  It is the means by which, should we find ourselves in a SHTF scenario, you will get you and your family to safety.  It should be able to not only provide reliable transportation for the family, but to haul all the gear you plan to take with you.  Alternatively it can also provide shelter, depending on your needs and how you see yourself bugging out.

Other considerations include fuel, water, comfort, heat, etc.  For me personally, I’ve wanted to have an RV as my bugout vehicle for a long time.  Until now my plan has included my 15 passenger van pulling a trailer as transport and someone else in my family driving my truck pulling a trailer as needed.  Our shelter plan was to sleep in one of our large tents and use our potty tent and a bucket toilet.  We have several stoves that we planned to use for food prep and several coolers for food storage.  Many know I have 8 kids – this plan would have worked but it was never optimal to me.  What I wanted was to have an RV that would provide transportation, shelter, food prep, etc all in one.

I’ve been looking for my RV solution for a long time.  As most of you probably know, they’re ridiculously expensive!  Since I refuse to go in debt for it (for anything really) I’ve been hunting for the right deal.  One of my buddies is a mechanic and I let him and several others know I was looking.   Months later, that finally came through for me when the buddy I mentioned found me an older RV that was in cherry mechanical condition that would sleep my whole family.  It’s old and the inside needs to be almost completely re-done, but it’s totally serviceable.  The great part is, I got it for $900.00!

My plan is to be able to park the RV, position the back of the box truck by the passenger door so supplies are readily available and pitch a large wall tent about 8 feet past the door to the RV with a pavilion pitched towards the rear of the RV.  That will allow us a comfortable, open air if we want it, setup where we can live pretty easily.   Now that I have the RV I’m several steps closer to having my bugout plan in place!

So, this fall I’m hoping to make several posts showing the projects we’re doing with it.  I plan to outfit it as a total BOV that we will keep stocked and ready to go.  I’m also still looking for a box truck (like a Ryder moving truck) to complete my bug out plan (to take that instead of my truck).  I already have trailers to pull behind each vehicle so we’re able to take everything with us that we need to.

I’m going to pretty much gut the inside of the RV, replace the beds, carpeting, etc.  Redo the shower, re-upholster all the cushions, install new batteries, replace all the catches on the cupboards, replace the propane fridge with one that works, install a small flatscreen tv, install a HAM and CB radio, install a computer station, figure out a satellite internet solution, fully stock it with non-perishable food, dishes, cooking gear, camping gear, clothes, guns, etc.  I basically plan to redo the entire inside and fully stock it to bug out, should be a fun project!

Here are some pictures of what it looks like right now:

She ain’t all that pretty, but I like it that way!  It’s a 1978 Ford Econoline.

Looking to the front from the kitchen area, sleeping area up top, couch and dining area that convert to beds, fridge barely on the right and the sink on the left.

Looking towards the back from the kitchen – Master Bedroom, bathroom with sink, toilet and shower.  Stove and cooking area on the right.

Other options that I am trying are freezing the shredded zucchini pre-measured in individual bags and as bread dough, pre-measured in individual, disposable baking tins. Freezing the shredded zucchini allows for convenience as you only have to thaw exactly what you need and it’s already measured for the recipe. The frozen dough is even more convenient as it only requires baking, saving you time and a messy kitchen. The most convenient option of course is pre-baked loaves though as they come out of the freezer ready to eat. I’m going to do some comparisons through the winter to see how much of a difference in taste and texture there is between bread baked from frozen dough and the pre-baked frozen loaves. If it turns out that the frozen loaves are just as good as freshly baked bread, then I will stick with that. It’s much easier and saves a lot of electricity to have a baking day where you cook it all at once.

Below is a series of photos illustrating the processes:

Shredding the zucchini with an attachment on my KitchenAid mixer. This can also be done by hand with a grater.

Ingredients ready. I used freshly ground whole wheat and they were delicious.

Mix the dry into the wet.

Add the shredded zucchini.

Pour into pans. Here I am filling small, disposable baking tins for freezing. I also baked some in large cupcake pans for breakfast the next morning. My children devoured them.

The tins were then wrapped in tin foil and sealed in quart zipper bags.

Final products ready for the freezer. The bag of shredded zucchini is exactly four cups, ready for a double batch some day in the middle of winter. (Yes, I shut the oven door too hard and then cupcakes fell in the middle.)