storing a month of food

[Zoe Girl]

does anyone have some experience trying to store about a month of food, starting with a week and adding up. I was feeling this was a good idea, maybe a week or so this time of year and building up to longer before next fall when we get snowed in at times. Part of this is for financial security feelings and part is for emergency so I thought about TP and feminine products (3 women living here) plus some things like chocolate and baking supplies since I am not just thinking power outages.

Any things to remember?

[bae]

Hereabouts, we call that "the pantry". Buy things that you normally would eat, and rotate through the supply, so things are always fresh. It's easy to get started just by getting a few extra items each time you shop.

[rodeosweetheart]

A lot of it depends on your power situation. If you lose power when it snows, do you have a way to cook? Water? It' good to have some things like peanut butter and crackers and lots of water if you lose power. Some people don't lose their water pump when they lose power, like we do.

If you have a cookstove, then you have other options. Then, I'd lay in the grits and the oatmeal. If you have a way to get boiling water only and no cookstove, there are instant meals out there like soups and oatmeal.

If you are just snowed in from store, then yeah, go nuts and do what you usually do, just in more quantity and rotate.

[Spoony]

I've been "investment cooking" for some time. One of my favorite freezer cookbooks is: http://www.amazon.com/The-Freezer-Cooking-Manual-Gourmet/dp/0966446747/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_22. There are many others, but this one is a great start.

[awakenedsoul]

Yeah, I keep a month's supply of food. It's really been helpful. I make sure to rotate it so it doesn't go bad. When I had my business and it started to only break even, I ate from my stockpile that month. It saved me over $200. on groceries. It's a big help psychologically, too. I keep extra cheese, tortillas, veggies, fruits, and butter in the freezer. I also buy nuts and pet food in bulk. Same with my staples. It's a good feeling. I never run out of food anymore.

[Blackdog Lin]

Statements become clichés because they're so true, and this is one: "Store what you eat and eat what you store".

We keep a large pantry - much more than a month's worth of food. These days I look at it as an investment (as long as I'm rotating properly and not letting anything go to waste). My $100.00 I could have put in the bank last year, or the year before or the year before that, would have earned me a munificent (maybe!) 1%, or .5%. Instead I used that $100.00 on bulk beans and pasta and sugar, and bought canned salmon and chicken and tuna and tomatoes and veggies and meat for the freezer when they were on sale - and today many of those items have gone up by a third, if not doubled in price. So having a pantry earned me a much better return on my money. (just an example, but you see where I'm going.....)

Think about the type of meals you usually cook, and then start a plan of buying extra of those type of foodstuffs every grocery trip. And if you're planning for power outages, then think about how you would cook from your pantry (i.e. bbq grill? or camp stove? wood stove? solar oven? fire pit?) Everyone's living situation is different. And don't forget about water storage. It is much more important to have either water in storage or a solid plan for procuring water than it is to have food on hand.

[Tiam]

Storing food for me has been a huge challenge, because overall, I just don't or use most processed foods. So it's taken me a while. But I started with something I do used that is processed: Condiments. I just started buying extra condiments. Now I have a couple of months worth of mustard, mayo, ketchup, salsa and salad dressing and oil. I've got a lot canned chicken broth. Then I decided, to store up some canned soups even though I don't like them. Since I don't eat canned soups I went with the easiest, most readily thought of. Chicken noodle soup. Now, I never eat chicken noodle soup. But, if it were an issue of having to eat and maybe not cook, I could do chicken noodle soup. If it starts to get old I'll give it to my DD and GS. I also stored up some cream soups. I also, rarely use those, but under the same theory, I stored them. Then i stored up several large cans of pork and beans under the same theory. In a pinch I could do them, and for rotation I can use them somehow. Spice 'em up and serve them with ham. But in the event of need, they could be eaten cold. I've also got a variety of regular canned beans. Garbanzos, black, and pinto. several cans of prepared chili and prepared tomato spaghetti sauce and some canned cheese sauce. Also several boxes of pasta salad mix. Several jars of canned milk, not a lot. A big jar of natural peanut butter. I'm pretty slow on getting around to peanut butter, but I'll get there and eventually rotate it. I also have some tuna and pasta and rice. That part is a bit tricky in case of cooking issues. We have a camp stove, but haven't tested it. But I also have a Boy scout buddy burner which could work in a pinch on the porch for cooking. Plus some sterno cans. So far, the cooking aspect is fairly minimal. I have no fruits or veg stored because I don't use those normally, so I wouldn't store them. And I have water. Probably need more. I also use dried ramen noodles so those are good to have.

So, for a month I could work out a menu based on:

5 big cans ofCanned pork and beans
10 cans of Tuna
1 large jar of natural Peanut butter
5 jars of Chicken soup
5 cans canned tomatoes
3 bottles of bottled salsa
5 jars of Mushroom soup.
l flat of ramen noodles (about 30?)
2 lbs of Spaghetti
noodles,
pasta salad mix (6
3 pounds of rice
5 pounds flour
6 4oz cans of milk
10 cans broth
Beans of different varieties. about 5 cans.
Enough flour to make up tortillas.
And some soap and some toliet paper
and a few extra toothbrushes.
Water....probably a bit iffy on the water. I probably have about 10 bottles of unused gallons of water that have never been opened or were rotated. I don't worry about them. I also have a gallon of pure bleach always on hand. Those waters would be disinfected and used for non consumptive needs like bathing, washing, etc. Then I have a couple of flats of drinking liters. Little less than liters really. It's more like a 3 day supply. So, with what I have available to me, and whatever was left from just day to day supplies before a catastrophe, I, my daughter and a friend could eek out an existence for a month, perhaps. But we need more water. And really, I need more ideas, because I'm going to store something I'm not ever going to have a use for in normal circumstances..

I usually only have one to two weeks of pet food handy. So that's an area to also concentrate on.Also put more effort into sugar, tea, coffee, which would be great to have around. My larder of emergency foods is very low on fruit or veg so that's a problem. Especially since we don't eat canned fruits or veggies.



So, do I have it planned by meals? No, I don't. I have it planned by usuability, palatability if it couldn't be cooked, but something I would use if I rotate it. Would it last a month between 3 people? Not sure. What I do know is that more family would probably arrive, and this is more like a 3 day supply in that case. What do you think?

[Blackdog Lin]

Tiam - I think you've got a great short-term emergency pantry list. You are smart to store up only items you will use normally. Re: dog food - I started keeping a bag in reserve, as in I always have one put away in the storeroom (I'm guessing a large bag is about 6 weeks supply for us). When the regular supply runs out, I bring out the reserve one and it's time to buy another one to put away as the reserve. This way I know we always have at least a 6 weeks extra supply - not much, but it won't go bad in that time, and it's better than nothing.

You do need some fruits and veggies. Would either home-canning or home-dehydrating fill this lack? Or maybe you might consider purchasing a can or 4 of the long-term-storage dehydrated or freeze-dried fruits/veggies. (I know some good companies to order from.) They keep for a very long time, and give me some peace of mind knowing I have veggies in the house under any eventuality.

[Zoe Girl]

Hmm I would think about adding crackers too, I know that storing bread would be hard (I am not counting on a freezer) but crackers could fill some of that or corn chips as well. Dried fruit! of course, I forgot about that. My family likes canned vegies and there is some liquid there so I don't need to add more water.

For cooking I have a camp stove and fuel, I also have a fondue pot and sterno! We were out of power one day and I did my hot water for tea, you could do soup or chili heat up and unlike a camp stove you can use it indoors.

thinking about water storage, I have some gallon jugs but does anyone know how long you could store water in 2 liter bottles from soda? I wouldn't want to use a gallon milk jug because I am not sure I could get those clean, except maybe with a drop of bleach for washing dishes and bathing water (hey if there is world melt down maybe I will just be dirty)

[puglogic]

Not sure about the water issue but there are lots of survivalist sites, you could probably find something on The Google.

I'm curious about the folks who say they freeze dairy products and rice........is there any loss or difference in quality when they're thawed out?

[Blackdog Lin]

Re: water storage. I've done a lot of reading on this stuff, and timelines on how long water will store varies widely. I store 18 gallons with no special treatment, from the tap, on the back porch (not near enough, but good for a short-term emergency) for a year at a time. I date the bottles, and every summer haul them outside to water flowers (which we do anyway, so the water isn't going to waste). Then refill and I have a fresh emergency supply for the next year. I wouldn't hesitate a bit using well-washed pop bottles - I'd maybe put a drop of bleach in each one, just because they held soda pop. The bottles we reuse are heavy 3-gallon water bottles, so I don't feel a need to do any treatment on them.

Freezing rice and dairy - never felt a need to freeze our rice, and there's frequently 20 lbs. or more on hand around here. We just keep it sealed in ziplocks or Tupperware in the pantry. Dairy, I only know that block cheese freezes very well. I always and only buy our cheddar and such on sale, and freeze it. We regularly eat 6-months-or-older cheese out of the freezer - can't tell any difference from new-bought, as long as you thaw it well before using it.

I'm intrigued with the thought of freezing milk, and thinking about trying it. Don't know why it wouldn't work, short-term anyway. It annoys me to have everything in the house for a meal I have in mind, but be out of milk.

[Zoe Girl]

Oh good, I like the soda bottle idea for a quick start. BlackDog, do the 3 gallon jugs freeze and are they okay? I do not have a garage or other shed so storing on the covered back porch is a good idea.

OMG I almost forgot instant mashed potatoes. We could eat those with gravy mix every day! The vegie gravy mix I can look for special deals on, and good sales on the basics since we are past March (snowiest month in Colorado).

[Tiam]

Well, your water from soda bottles. If you consider that your bathing water, not drinking water, with some bleach or iodine added, it would be ok. That's what I have, but it's separate from the 'drinking water.' Looking once more at my above list....I think it might only add up to two weeks worth of storage. It's hard to accurately predict needs and consumptions and contingencies.

[Tiam]

Oh good, I like the soda bottle idea for a quick start. BlackDog, do the 3 gallon jugs freeze and are they okay? I do not have a garage or other shed so storing on the covered back porch is a good idea.

OMG I almost forgot instant mashed potatoes. We could eat those with gravy mix every day! The vegie gravy mix I can look for special deals on, and good sales on the basics since we are past March (snowiest month in Colorado).



Have instant mashed potatoes improved in the last few years?

[Tiam]

Tiam - I think you've got a great short-term emergency pantry list. You are smart to store up only items you will use normally. Re: dog food - I started keeping a bag in reserve, as in I always have one put away in the storeroom (I'm guessing a large bag is about 6 weeks supply for us). When the regular supply runs out, I bring out the reserve one and it's time to buy another one to put away as the reserve. This way I know we always have at least a 6 weeks extra supply - not much, but it won't go bad in that time, and it's better than nothing.

You do need some fruits and veggies. Would either home-canning or home-dehydrating fill this lack? Or maybe you might consider purchasing a can or 4 of the long-term-storage dehydrated or freeze-dried fruits/veggies. (I know some good companies to order from.) They keep for a very long time, and give me some peace of mind knowing I have veggies in the house under any eventuality.

We have a boxer. A boxer. For the unitiated, the Boxer breed seems to have defined the idea of a dog getting issues. Thyroid, allergies, skin issues, rashes, cancer ...it never ends. Right now we are working on our first batch of homemade dogfood and see how that goes, but in a pinch? Fido would get kibble.!

[flowerseverywhere]

I would suggest starting by taking a fridge/freezer/pantry inventory. You might be surprised at how much food you already have. If the power went out or we had some type of big emergency I would focus on fridge first, then freezer then pantry. In my fridge it is not unusual to have some type of leftovers, milk, yogurt, eggs, fruits and veggies and those would be the first day or two at least. My freezer has several containers of frozen soups or stews at all times as I make a big batch and rotate them around. Right now it is pea soup, cheese, bean soup, veggie soup, and several bags of veggies for stir fry and several bags of berries. So depending on the outside weather that would take us quite a few days, close to a week with no power or water coming in. I always keep a dozen canned soups, canned beans, canned fruit, several boxes of cereal, oatmeal, nuts, granola type bars, pasta and jars of sauce, crackers, tuna etc on hand, I rotate what I don't use regularly at least once a year when they go on sale and donate to the food pantry. I watch the sales to stock up. You need to assess your own needs, for instance if you have kids or pets. You also can learn to store eggs at room temperature- cheese can be stores in wax, check the internet for safe sources. for water, I have twenty gallons per person in sealed jugs, and water purification tablets and a filter. If a known hazard is coming, say an ice storm or hurricane you can always fill up a bathtub with water to use for flushing, bathing etc. We looked at the local hurricane preparedness sites and what Fema recommends for more ideas. Flashlights that work, a wind up and solar radio, books to read, games to play, crossword puzzles will all help. We also keep a backup pair of sturdy shoes for walking, and try to keep in good bike riding and walking shape. The biggest things to avoid in my opinion is things like a fifty pound bag of dried beans if you have no idea how to reconstitute them or the energy and water to do it, and thinking the government is going to rush in and rescue you.

[Mrs.B]

If you're interested in learning how one group has made food storage a career, Google LDS food storage. This group has long believed in long term food storage and have even made calculators to figure out how much to store. They also have great tips about creative places to store your foods when you live in limited sq.ft. They also discuss how to rotate your food and make sure that your expiration dates considered. You don't have to agree with their religion to benefit from their knowledge.

[Blackdog Lin]

Excellent tip Mrs. B. I've long followed the LDS online food-storage help. They have information that can help with any questions any of us may have with food storage.