[Getting Food Storage Started]

That sounds yummy! Do you have a recipe to share? I'd love to have some ideas/ratios!:)

[Getting Food Storage Started]

ADVICE for anyone who has their food storage already in place...

I'm use to rotating my provisions and I know how to use all the foods I store and incorporate them into my daily living. However, I just spent an entire month living 100% on my food storage just to see what it would be like and to see where I would fall short.

I now know I need more eggs, butter, meat, cheese. Also, beverages. Too much water, too much powdered milk (which I do like) get boring. Even making the milk into cocoa and making homemade lemonade got a bit tiring when you consider you're eating 90 meals in a month (3 meals a day x 30 = 90). And then sometimes you're thirsty between meals. Trust me, water-milk-cocoa-lemonade get boring fast.

There were also days I was either busy or just felt "lazy" and didn't feel like cooking and on those days, ready made meals like Mountain House might have been nice. I don't have any "easy" ready made meals on hand and that needs to change :) Even if I don't go the Mountain House route, ravioli in a can or Chunky soup or something similar would be just as easy.

So once your storage is in place... give it a test run. Better to test yourself now when you have a chance to correct any gaps in your storage... than to find out during an emergency that things aren't quite as pleasant as you thought they'd be.

That is very good advice! I have stored (and I rotate) things like herb tea and cocoa. I have about 10 different varieties of herbal tea like peppermint, licorice, etc. It doesn't have caffeine, so it is LDS friendly! One could also store things like Tang. We don't eat this, but I think I'm going to stock some "just in case."

We do have some Mountain House ready-made meals stored, for the reasons that you mentioned. They're a little pricey, but they may be worth it if you get tired of cooking and preparing storage food. I think I'll take your advice, Fortress, and stock up on some canned beef stews!

Just a question...do you store mostly powered cheese, or did you get some of the canned stuff? I tried the canned, and it's not bad, but I don't think I'd want to incorporate it into my "regular" diet. A little "plastic-y". Imagine Velveeta in can! It was also pretty expensive. I also got some canned butter -- it's made for people who live in the Aussie outback or in the middle east where refrigeration is not so available. After I try it, I'll give you a full report!

[Getting Food Storage Started]

The only problem I have with saving up 2000 pounds of wheat or rice is how many people know how to prepare it? If all you have is some buckets of wheat flour, beans, and water, you're going to be eating some pretty miserable meals for that year. And if you get instant rice, the nutritional value is significantly less than normal rice and I'm not sure if it has any additional restrictions on storage.

Perhaps, among all the food we should be storing, we also should think about "food storage recipes" so we can have some creative ways of preparing that mundane bucket of beans - and so the people who don't know how to properly cook raw beans won't be lost when disaster strikes.

Hi Puf,

There are some really good books out there about how to cook with beans, rice, wheat, and other home storage items. One that emphasizes the freeze dried and dehydrated items is called "Cookin' With Home Storage". Here is a link to a page that has some others: Amazon.com: cooking with grains and beans

I have the "366 ways to cook rice and beans" book, and I really like it.

I chose to store beans and whole grains for a couple of reasons. One, they will keep (depending on the grain or legume) anywhere from 5 to 30 years, assuming proper packaging and storage. Two, they are inexpensive and nutritious items that my family already eats. Three, they are easily made into "one pot" meals, which is important in a situation where fuel and water are scarce. So I am able to store 3 years' worth and rotate it. That is what I'm doing. I am lucky enough to have a basement; we planned that when we built the house. So I have a ton of storage space. I don't really have any advice for those who want to store a years' worth and have a large family. Just do the best with what you have, I guess. Try to store items that pack the most nutrition and calories into the least amount of space. Out with the chips, packaged breakfast cereal, and cheesy poofs! In with beans, grains, and dehydrated veggies!

In addition to the "storage" food, we also have stored 1 years' worth of "regular" canned stuff like beans, tomatoes, veggies, etc. My family already eats this stuff, so whether it comes in a convenient can or has to be soaked to rehydrate it doesn't really matter to anyone but me, who prepares it.

I also recommend storing good flavoring ingredients like Kitchen Bouquet, soy sauce, worchestershire sauce, and Liquid Smoke. This stuff keeps darned near forever, so don't worry if you aren't rotating it as often as you "should."

I also have plenty of sweeteners on hand: Granulated sugar, some brown sugar (less, because it gets hard as a rock if you store it for too long, even under "ideal" conditions) molasses, and honey.

If you plan to store whole grains, get a wheat grinder. The one I bought is called the Family Grain Mill, (from Pleasant Hill Grain) and it has a hand base and a motorized base. So I can use the same machine even if the power is out. I choose not to store flour (although I do have some on hand in the kitchen for everyday use) because whole wheat flour just doesn't keep very well. So I grind it as I need it.

Okay, okay...I can see some of you cringing out there... It doesn't take as long as you think to grind wheat, and I have a breadmaker, so at least THAT saves me a lot of time!

Yes, the whole process can be overwhelming. But you don't have to do it all at once, so take a deep breath and store a weeks' worth. Then store another weeks' worth. Buy a bucket of wheat here and there IF you know how to use it and your family will eat it. Buy a balance of things; it doesn't do you much good to go out an buy 1000 pounds of wheat if you don't have any yeast, sugar, or salt stored. Buy a little fat, a little protein, a little sugar. Involve the kids. Make it fun. Start introducing some new recipes made with your storage food. You could have a "storage dinner" out in the garage with a campstove, some storage food, and your lantern. Make it a fun adventure, and they'll buy in!

For your eating pleasure, here is a good "storage food" recipe that is quick and easy. I promise you will love, love, love it!

New England Clam Chowder

12 oz can of evaporated milk

11 oz can of creamed corn

11 oz can of regular corn

1/2 c dehydrated bacon bits

1 can chopped or minced clams

1/4 c dehydrated onion, rehydrated

1/4 c dehydrated red pepper, rehydrated (the veggie, not the spice)

1 c dehydrated potato dices, rehydrated

1/4 c canned butter

salt, pepper, lemon pepper, and dill to taste.

Saute the onion and red pepper in the butter until softened. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a large pot or crockpot until the potatoes are soft. A smaller cut on the potatoes makes them cook faster.

Yum! Try it and tell me if you like it!

[Purify dirt water to drink...]

I know that katadyn makes one that looks like a sport water bottle. Looks like it would be convenient for travel or work. They sell them on Amazon. I'm not sure if it would filter out salt or not, but I'm guessing it would, since it filters out other minerals and bacteria.

I guess one could call the manufacturer and ask.

[Frozen Items]

Hi Funky Monkey,

I really like frozen veggies, and we do keep a chest freezer to store a variety of other things as well.

We like it for keeping spices, which we order in bulk from Penzey's. We also buy beef by the side that is locally grown and grass-fed. We also freeze butter for storage. We also store yeast cakes for baking bread, nuts, and gallon-size containers of frozen homemade soups. Instant lunch! Our house has a backup generator that runs on natural gas, so as long as we have that, we're fine.

If you are concerned about power outages, you may want to consider a chest freezer rather than an upright. It is said that these keep the cold in longer during a power interruption. People sometimes are critical of chest freezers because they are hard to organize (remember your childhood toybox?) but Frigidaire makes models (GLFC2027F and others) that have really nifty dividers for the bottom of the freezer so you can actually stack things neatly, even irregularly shaped stuff. I love it!

Technically, I guess freezers aren't good for long-term storage of veggies (about 9 months) or meat (about 1 year) or fish (about 6 months), but they are good for long-term storage of yeast, butter, nuts, and spices. I like the convenience of not running out of stuff (hmmm....like the time last month when I was having a large group for dinner, ran out of arborio rice (!) and found out the store was out of it, too! Ack, ack!) and not having to run to the store just because I need some butter and forgot it at the grocery store last week. Plus, you can buy stuff like butter when the stores have it on special.

[Mylar Bag Sealer]

Read this before you start putting Diatomaceous Earth in with edible foods!!! Diatomaceous earth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Diatomaceous Earth is used in gardening but it only works on soft bodied bugs. Like slugs and grubs etc. Wouldn't bother a weavil at all. Weavils are hard bodied.

The reason I use the Food Saver VACUUM sealer is it vacuums the air out of the bag and leaves only the food product. Resealing a mylar bag with an iron doesn't remove the air.

Thanks for the bit about the weevils...I was unaware of that.

Resealing a mylar bag after putting oxygen absorbers in it will remove the oxygen, and it will create a vacuum. Same effect as if you had used your vacuum sealer. Anything that removes the oxygen will create a vacuum.

[Mylar Bag Sealer]

I just watched a video of a lecture given by Wendy DeWitt in Arizona and am inspired to do more.

Is that the one where she tells you to use lots of bay leaves "to keep the bugs away?" If so, a good video, but the bay leaf is completely unnecessary. The food is in mylar bags and in a plastic bucket; why on earth does she think that bugs will get in?

If you're really worried about bugs, put some Diatomaceous Earth in with the food. It kills anything that might hatch after packing. (But the Oxygen absorbers should make it impossible for them to live anyway.) But skip the bay leaves and spend the money on storage food instead.

[Mylar Bag Sealer]

Set it to the "wool" setting. It is inexpensive and works great! It doesn't hurt the iron, either, but if you're concerned about it, you can get an old iron at a thrift store.

I tried my Foodsaver to seal the mylar bags (5 gallon pail liners) but the bag was so wide that it was kinda awkward. But I know of some people who do that. One of the disadvantages to using the Foodsaver is that the seal created is pretty narrow. I felt better about having a wider seal.

[What's in your food storage?]

If you are going to store the bags in a plastic bucket, then why not save your self tons of money and seal those grains up in a Food Saver Vacuum Sealer??

Because it's not any cheaper; I've priced the rolls vs the mylar bags. Even with the oxygen absorbers figured in, mylar is still cheaper. And you'd still need a plastic bucket for the foodsaver bags, for the same reasons that you need them for mylar. Mice will chew on anything. Please let me know if you have a good source for cheaper Foodsaver bags. I only buy the name-brand bags; the cheapie off-brand ones are thinner and don't work so well for long-term or freezer use.

[What's in your food storage?]

You'll want to cook all that stored food, right?

Kerosene

Kerosene stove

Kerosene lamp

Kerosene heater

Pri-D to stabilize kerosene

Boxes of matches (these are also a good barter item)

You need teeth if you want to eat...

Toothbrushes

Dental floss

Toothpaste

Emergency tooth filling

Some things you might find handy to seal up the house..

Nylon cord or rope

Garbage bags

Expandable spray-on sealer

Plastic sheeting (6 mm)

Duct tape

Remember to get some yeast if you want to bake bread. It stores just about forever in the freezer. You can buy a 2lb brick at Costco for cheap.

Oh, and here's a whacky idea...I found this stuff on the internet that you can actually paint on fresh eggs to keep them fresh. It makes it so you don't have to refrigerate them. I forget what it's called, but you could Google it. Omelet, anyone?

[What's in your food storage?]

"I want to get those mylar bags and the sealer (lds.org). Then I can save sugar and rice I just got on special. Has anyone worked with the mylar bags? Do they last as long as a can? Someone just told me that they didn't but that didn't seem right to me."

Mylar bags are great, and they will last indefinitely. The only downside versus a can is that you have to put them in something, because if you puncture them, or a little mouse chews on them, they are now not good, along with whatever is in them (unless you eat the contents right away.)

You can put mylar bags in 5 gallon pails. It's a really good way to store small amounts of stuff (like grain) that you are going to use soon. Heck, you could put them in anything vermin-proof. Why package 50 lbs of whole grain in a 5 gallon pail, when you don't know if you can use it up fast enough? If you pack it in a smaller mylar bag, and then put several small bags in a pail, you can pull it out of the pail, use it in a month (or whatever) and then get more from your pail when you need it. No pressure to have corn bread or wheat whatever for a month.

Save your money on a sealer; a household iron set to "wool" works fine. Put your money into food storage instead, or see if your stake's cannery has one you can use. Just my $0.02.

[What's in your food storage?]

Bayoumom,

Keep track of what you use in a month. Multiply by 12. That's a year's supply.

Each family is different, so each family has to figure out what they use. Guidelines are good, but there is no substitute for actually doing the figuring yourself!