amightyfortress

HELP!!! I'm ordering some supplies for my really long term storage and need to know... How many POUNDS does a #10 can of Salt weigh? You think they'd tell you, but they don't. Also, if anyone knows how many pounds a #10 can of honey weighs, I'd appreciate that info, too. I could buy honey in a superbucket, but think it might be more convenient to have a #10 can (Just because honey is so gooey and messy, it's easier to just pop a can open each year than ladle out of a bucket and have to mop up any mess).

Sure, but be sure it's the Diamant Grain Mill :) I'd like some spare burrs, too. Thanks!p.s., the 72 is doing fine.

C'mon, be an overachiever :)

If you're into electricity, it would probably be best to have one electric mill, and two handcranked ones. The reason to have two handcranked ones is so two people can share the work, and in case there was some type of civil unrest where power was out longer term, you'd have a backup grinder in case the first one broke. Also, you could help out someone else who had no mill by borrowing them one of the handcrankers.

I sure hope they used that "bad wheat" as compost (or at least gave it to someone for their garden). So long as the "bad food" isn't meat or dairy, you can till it into a garden to enrich the soil. Wheat will sprout and if you don't want to grow the wheat (because you'd prefer your usual garden), you can then let it grow a little and re-till it under as "green compost".

I'm one of those "weird" people who actually prefers the taste of powdered milk. That comes in handy when putting together my food storage :)

Philistine

It's so true. Everyone should be prepared.As an example: Hurricane Katrina. All that wide-spread devastation. 1/2 the city under water. People going without food and water and turning on each other in desperation. Now, if the entire city had practiced preparedness, and 1/2 the city was under water, then the other 1/2 the city would not be under water. That 1/2 of the city could have shared their provisions and everyone could have had food and water for an extended period of time. Nobody would have had to suffer. All the people frantically searching for food and water could have instead directed their efforts towards helping rescue others. (There is also something to be said for that city not being more prepared either, but that's another story). But the bottom line is nobody in New Orleans would have had to go without food and water if the entire city had been practicing food storage and preparedness.

Hey everyone, I just want you to know I really like this website. I'm a non-LDS, so nobody understands my food storage addiction :) This is the first place I've been able to go where I felt like I fit in. I don't understand why more people aren't prepared. All a person has to do is watch the news or read a newspaper to see they should be prepared. I've been into food storage for many years now, but have been feeling a strong need to be even more prepared lately (that's why I upped my storage from 6 months to 1 year). Is it just me, or does it "feel" like a storm is brewing? Sorry for the off-topic comment, but just wanted you all to know I enjoy reading your posts.

Thanks for the meat suggestions.I keep oil-packed tuna on hand--that way I don't need butter if making a casserole. I got quite a look from the Aldi's cashier when I bought 104 cans :)

I'm glad you posted that picture of your food storage. I never even thought to add canned hams. One of those could make so many meals: scalloped potatoes and ham, hot ham sandwiches, cold ham sandwiches, bits of ham for soup, omelets, lots of variety. Now I'll have to go pick up some to add to my storage.

Families could also consider purchasing a duplex or 3 or 4-family apartment building just for themselves (no outside tenants would live there) and use the same principle to pay it off rapidly. That way, each family would have a bit more privacy. If there's a good lock on the main entrance doors, there's no reason the families couldn't leave the interior doors unlocked which would enable the children to gather more easily. Families could even set up a schedule where each mother gets 2 hours of free time to herself during the day when the kids are over in another family members living area.

You might like to check out my other post on how I keep my one-year supply rotated using 12 big Rubbermaid containers (one for each month of the year). It's easy, it keeps everything rotated, and you don't end up eating too much of one item too quickly.Then you don't have to date-mark or rotate cans anymore :)

I now store a one-year supply of food (see my other post regarding my easy rotation method). If I was going to help someone put together a one month "starter" food storage, I'd probably go with the easy whole-meal-at-a-time method. I'd ease them into it with familiar foods to show them how easy it is. Once they see it's easy, they may willingly expand to two months on their own. Then 3 months, 4 months, 5, 6, 7... This would be for one person. When you're doing your regular grocery shopping, add your additional "food storage" items to the cart. Week 1: Buy 4 boxes of noodles, 4 jars of spaghetti sauce, and a shaker of parmesan cheese (if you like it). You could also add 4 1-lb packages of hamburger to the freezer. POOF! You now have spaghetti dinner once a week for a month (plus leftovers!) Week 2: Buy 4 mac-n-cheese, 4 oil-packed tuna, 4 cans of peas or corn. Now you have macaroni-tuna-veggie casserole once a week for a month. (Using oil-packed tuna means you don't need to use butter--just open the can and dump it in. If you don't like tuna, you could use canned chicken, ham or turkey, but then you need butter) Week 3: If you like pizza, you could buy 4 and put them in the freezer. Then you can have pizza night once a week. Week 4: Like pancakes? Buy a bottle of cooking oil, a box of just-add-water pancake mix, and a bottle of syrup. Now you can have a pancake breakfast once a week for a month. Week 5: A bag of rice, 4 cans of those LaChoy meat-and-chinese-veggies, and a bottle of soysauce will give you Asian-night once a week for a month. Week 6: ...and so on and so on. If anyone actually wants more meal ideas, I could provide more suggestions, but I think you get the idea. Just tailor it to what you like, make sure the product has a shelf-life, and buy 4 complete meals worth. Continue doing this for 21 weeks and you'll have 3-meals-a-day-for-one-month stored up. (7 weeks need to be supper foods. 7 weeks need to be lunch foods. 7 weeks need to be breakfast foods) Don't worry about snacks, for a single person, you'll have plenty of leftovers. I realize this isn't the most optimal nutrition, but with time, people learn to add beans, dried peas, wheat, etc. I think if beginners try to jump in with the more "skill intense" cooking and food storage all at once, it might scare them off and discourage them.

Be sneaky and GRIND the lentils very fine and add them to the bread flour. Ready cooked lentils are also easily mixed into raw ground beef and then you just make a meatloaf or fry the meat as usual. Just don't put too many lentils in the bread or the meat--you don't want to overpower it. Also, don't let them see you do it :)

When my water heater broke, I purposefully didn't call the landlord for two months so I could have the experience of living without hot water. I had to heat kettles of water on the stove until they boiled to take a bath (you then add enough cold water to make the temperature comfortable). When you have to heat water and haul it to the tub, you learn just how little water you really need. It was a good learning experience.

I'm a non-LDS, but I'm also practicing food storage. All LDS members who follow the church teachings are very wise to do so and I'm so grateful for your wonderful resources and websites. Even if the second coming doesn't come within our lifetimes, an unexpected job loss, famine, etc. could always strike and it's best to be prepared. I've always stored six-months of food, but I've increased my provisions to a one-year supply and have found an easy way to rotate most of my provisions and thought it might be helpful to someone who may find food rotation a challenge: To make rotation easy, I use the "big Rubbermaid storage container method". I have 12 of those big Rubbermaid containers. I labeled them January, February, March, etc... I know I eat spaghetti every Wednesday night. So I just look at a calendar to see if I need to put 4 or 5 jars of sauce in the container (some months have 5 Wednesdays). Same with the other items like corned beef hash (I know I eat a can each Sunday) so I put the appropriate number of cans in that month's Rubbermaid container. I go through a big box of powdered milk per month, so each container gets a box of that, too...etc. etc. You can also remember to rotate toothbrushes every 3 months by putting the new one(s) in the appropriate month's container :) About the only provisions that don't get sorted into monthly containers are items such as sugar, honey, wheat, whole oats, etc. or papergoods, bleach, etc. because their use varies. By separating my year's worth of provisions into 12 containers (12 months) I don't end up being tempted to eat too many of one item and then end up short on items (or risk inbalanced nutrition). Using this container method, my provisions are always rotated and never more than a year old. ROTATION: Now that I just finished off my "January container" of provisions and the container is empty, it's put on the end of the row and I'll refill it when I go to the market. It will be ready and waiting for me when January 2009 rolls around :) Another bonus is if you know a family in need, you could just bring them a Rubbermaid container of provisions. You already know it contains balanced and varied nutrition. Add a few baggies of popcorn-oats-sugar-etc, bottle of cooking oil, etc. and they're good-to-go.