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I’ve been getting a lot of emails lately regarding food storage, and pantry staples.
“What do you keep stocked in your kitchen, what are some fabulous food storage recipes, Where should I buy my food storage and What can I feed my family if I can’t go to the store for 3 weeks in a row”. These are just a sampling of the questions posed.
Now, I am by no means a food storage specialist, however I thought I would put together a few tips, lists and recipes together for you regarding the subject. Please know that the advice I am giving here is just from my own personal experiences, and not the only tried and true method around. If you have some food storage advice, I would love you to leave it in the comment section for others to view.
Acquiring a substantial food storage can be overwhelming, I realize. The intention of this post is not to cause you stress or grief or feelings of extreme anxiety. When I was newly married, some 18 years ago, I remember coming across an article in a magazine that had to do with organizing a kitchen and what spices a person should purchase. After taking one glance at the list I tossed it in the trash and thought to myself…”there is no way I’ll EVER be able to acquire all of those things, I wonder how long we can live on cupboard lint.”
It’s true. Those were my very thoughts.
However, I learned as I’m sure many of you have, that it just takes a little bit of time, effort and financial planning and a well stocked kitchen can be attained. The same is true of obtaining a useful supply of food storage. You don’t need to spend 1 million dollars or build an underground bunker storing 95 years worth of food to be successful.
Alright, let’s get to it. If you are already a food storage pro, and are just looking for the 40 Food Storage Recipes promised, please scroll to the bottom of the post and enjoy.
WHY IN THE WIDE WORLD SHOULD I STORE EXTRA FOOD?
As a means of being prepared for difficult circumstances, such as job loss, natural disasters or an economic downturn.
WHAT KIND OF FOOD SHOULD I STORE?
You should store food that your family regularly eats, that also has at least a 3 month shelf or freezer life. Baking supplies, spices and seasonings, canned goods, as well as frozen vegetables, fruits, meat and poultry. (Lists found if you keep scrolling down.)
Expensive Freeze Dried Food is not really my cup of tea. I may regret not purchasing it if the continents end up colliding and I am forced to dig a hole in my back yard and eat tree roots to survive. Truly. I may regret it at that point. But for now, stocking and storing a 6 month to 1 year supply of real food my family regularly eats is my course of action.
Store some long term food storage items such as hard winter wheat, rice, dried beans, etc. I try to keep about a 3 year supply of these things. (Keep scrolling down for a complete list). They are inexpensive, healthy and if stored properly they have a 30 year shelf life! That is a long old time, wouldn’t you agree? I keep these items in large, sealed, 5 gallon buckets (they can accommodate about 40 pounds). I don’t have a big food storage room so I just stick them here and there, which really means my kids all have 3 or 4 buckets in the bottom of their closets. But they don’t mind, they would rather eat rice and beans than tree roots…or so I keep telling them. 🙂
WHERE SHOULD I PURCHASE FOOD STORAGE?
Read the grocery store ads weekly: Watch for things to go on sale and then buy as many as you can reasonably afford, and have space to store. There are a lot of great online resources available that can help with this process. Deals To Meals is a wonderful aid that I recommend highly.
Case Lot Sales: In my area, both in the late summer and late winter, many of the grocery stores sponsor Case Lot Sales. Canned goods and baking items are sold at a reduced price. I try and buy 6 months worth of cased goods at these sales. We often save some of our tax return to make it happen. I figure we are going to keep eating for the at least the next six months so I may as well buy the stuff when it’s cheap.
Shop Warehouse Stores: I purchase most of my baking supplies and spices at Costco. Their price is always reasonable and the quality is superb. Wynco and other grocery stores that carry spices in bulk are also a great option.
Long Term Food Storage Items such as wheat, rice and dried beans can be purchased in 25 pound bags at any LDS Bishops Storehouse. (You don’t have to be a member of the LDS Church to buy goods there). They are located all over the United States. You can access a complete list of locations here.
* Items with a * are those that I purchase at Costco.
BAKING and COOKING STAPLES:
*White Flour
Wheat Flour
*White Sugar
Cornmeal
Rolled Oats
*Brown Sugar
*Powdered Sugar
Baking Soda
Baking Powder
Corn Starch
*Salt and Pepper
*Cocoa Powder
*Vanilla
Almond Extract
*Canola Oil
*Olive Oil
Sesame Oil
Shortening (butter flavored)
*Cooking Spray
*Soy Sauce
*Vinegar
Apple Cider Vinegar
Rice Wine Vinegar
Lime Juice
Lemon Juice
Mayonnaise (Best Foods Light)
Ketchup
*Sweet Baby Rays BBQ Sauce
*Maple Syrup
*Honey
*Pasta, all kinds of shapes and sizes
Italian Bread Crumbs
SPICES, SEASONINGS:
Chicken Bullion Cubes or Granules
Beef Bullion Cubes or Granules
*Yeast (I always use Active Dry)
*Johnny’s Garlic Seasoning
*Johnny’s (or Lawry’s) Season Salt
*McCormick Taco Seasoning
*McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning
Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix
Good Seasons Italian Dressing Mix
*Italian Seasoning
*Garlic (granulated or powder)
*Oregano
*Parsley
*Basil
*Rosemary
*Smoked Paprika
Thyme
*Ginger
Cumin
*Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Dry Mustard
Diet Coke (just kidding…sort of)
CANNED GOODS:
Corn
Green Beans
Stewed Tomatoes (both Mexican and Italian flavored)
Tomato Sauce
Tomato Paste
Cream of Chicken Soup
Cream of Mushroom Soup
Tomato Soup
Chicken Noodle Soup
Peanut Butter
Mandarin Oranges
Pineapple, chunks and crushed
Black Beans
Kidney Beans
White Beans
Green Chilis
Red Enchilada Sauce
Green Enchilada Sauce
Homemade Canned Salsa
Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
Homemade Jam
Diet Dr. Pepper (again, only sort of kidding)
FREEZER STAPLES:
Chicken Breasts, boneless and skinless
Chicken Thighs
Ground Beef
*Pork Loin Roast
*Corn
*Green Beans
*Peas
*Blueberries or Strawberries
LONG TERM STORAGE:
*Hard White Winter Wheat
Dried White Beans
Dried Black Beans
Dried Kidney Beans
Lentils
* White Rice
Brown Rice
*Steel Cut Oats
I hope you found this post to be helpful. New recipe coming up on Friday morning. Have a great day!
Where in the world did you get the idea that dry beans will last thirty years? They get hard and you can’t cook them soft no matter how you try.Now if you had said after a couple of years you will have to grind them up so you can eat them it would have made more sense.Typically dried beans are good for two years.After that you have to use baking soda to soften them.
It’s true that beans to get hard with age making the extremely difficult to cook. But they still can be cooked with a pressure cooker.
My mother left a lot of beans which were stored in plastic containers when she died 15 years ago. They were several years old at that time. I boiled some for 5 hours and they were still too hard to eat comfortably. I decided to borrow my sisters electric pressure cooker, an Instapot. I soaked more of my mom’s beans again for about 24 hours. Put the beans, water and some salt in. Set the pressure to high, and the cook time to 2 hours 30 minutes. Let the pressure cooker depressurize on its own. When it had depressurized, I sampled the beans. They were delicious. They melted in my mouth.
Yes beans can be stored for 30 or more years in an oxygen free or oxygen reduced environment. I buy beans in #10 cans with an oxygen absorber packet put in. After 7 years I opened one of these cans and the beans cooked just like normal beans that aren’t old.
Can you store nuts longterm – in shell or shelled? What about foraged foods? Hard cheeses last depending on mousture and temperature but will continue to harden. mushrooms, vegetable garden produce can be stored in cold basement or under dirt and straw. Drying and fermenting are other ways to ensure food retains nutritional content.
This is i think the article i have been looking for. Mainly meals i can make from simple storable foods.
all the links are broken
None of the links work
What are the best containers for long term storage of food?