Getting Food Storage Started

[KuriChan]

Yeah, food storage is a huge pain and every person you talk to will give me a different answer. Trust me on that one, I've been highly involved in food storage for about two years now. I'm not allowed to sell or anything on these forums, so I'll just tell you that I highly recommend going with freeze-dried food. There are tons of benefits: tastes great, lasts for over 25 years, no chemicals or preservatives, etc. You can do all sorts of research on it online.

[dalepres]

Yeah, food storage is a huge pain and every person you talk to will give me a different answer. Trust me on that one, I've been highly involved in food storage for about two years now. I'm not allowed to sell or anything on these forums, so I'll just tell you that I highly recommend going with freeze-dried food. There are tons of benefits: tastes great, lasts for over 25 years, no chemicals or preservatives, etc. You can do all sorts of research on it online.

I thought you weren't allowed to sell anything on these forums?

I have nothing to sell. So I'll just tell you that I highly recommend packing your own short-term storage from things you use normally and using long term storage like grains and legumes to extend that short-term storage.

And I've been involved in food storage for 35 years :)

But if I sold freeze-dried foods, here or elsewhere, I might suggest something else.

[Guest DeborahC]

I've been happy with the food we've purchased from the Bishop's Storehouse. It's good for 30 years.

The potato buds, refried beans, apples, onions, dry milk, macaroni, spaghetti, tang, oatmeal are all really good and I use them a lot to take camping. And the wheat is great for sprouting or making bread.

I refuse to pay for freeze dried food. Too spendy for my pocketbook.

I dehydrate a lot of my own food, though.

[dalepres]

I refuse to pay for freeze dried food. Too spendy for my pocketbook.

I dehydrate a lot of my own food, though.

That's a great point, Deborah. We live in an area notorious for having no soil (it all blew out west in the 30's) and I travel a lot for work so we don't have much of a garden. We're still able to dehydrate a lot. We got a tip elsewhere to dehydrate frozen vegetables bought at the store. It's by far less expensive than buying them already dehydrated. We even mix them up for soups and stews. If you pack your own spices, your own noodles, your own vegetables, and starches, why couldn't you make your own meals on demand. They'd be (in my opinion) much better than pre-packaged dehydrated foods.

One thing to think about when considering pre-packaged dehydrated meals, either purchased at retail or packaged yourself, is that the maximum shelf life of any package is equivalent to the shortest shelf life of any product in the package. Spices and flavorings generally have a much shorter shelf life than grains and legumes and even pastas.

I suggest packing the ingredients for all your favorite storage recipes, but package them in separate packages. Never mix ingredients before packing for long-term storage.

Dale

[Guest DeborahC]

Dale, I never thought about dehydrating frozen foods! Now that is a great idea!

I usually just buy fresh at farmer's market. I also make my own crackers and dehydrated "breads" since I have a problem with wheat if it's not organic.

My dehydrator and I are very good friends ! lol

[Guest Alana]

Why are so many people so anti-wheat, anti-grainmill? My stash of a variety of wheat and my handcranked Back-to-Basics grainmill are my favorite part of food storage. The grainmill is always attached to my kitchen table (unless enough company is coming over that someone needs to sit on that side of the table) and I use my mill and my wheat almost every day.

I make yummy muffins, delicious pancakes, bread, cookies, cakes, flour for gravy, noodles, etc.

The cheapest and tastiest way to round out your food storage is to purchase bulk wheat, a grainmill, and then use it all the time.

I'm going to figure out a way to magically transmit your knowlege, baking skill, general know-how and motivation into me. What you're describing is the perfect way to use your food storage, enjoy preservative free food and homemade goodies all at the same time. Plus, I bet if I baked more with my own flour, I could actually use some dehydrated milk and I could stop worrying about it not lasting long enough to store.

You are an inspiration:)

[TheyCallMeMom]

For us our food storage started differently

I was what many call a "super couponer" before I even joined the church.. I already had a food storage LOL

What I did was I would buy large qty of the deal/sale items that week

I try to tell people to start with $10-20 a week.. if you spend $10-20 a week you can build up good storage fast

for example if peanut butter was on sale for $1.50 and I had $1 off coupons I would get as many coupons I could and buy as many as I could

or if the store had pasta on sale for $1 lb I would spend $20 and buy 20 lbs

maybe the next week it was $20 of cereal or veggies

then I got to a point to where all I needed to buy was perishables and I was only shopping deals.. so i would spend maybe $50 on weekly food and $100 on storage

not only did we build a great food storage but I was doing it on a budget...