Food storage list must haves

[Colored Egg Farmer]

Has anyone added Honey.. read some where that is the only food that will not spoil.

 

[dzook]

Great Thread. One thing that hasn't really been mentioned is knowledge. Find a good book on how to use your food storage. Many people don't know that you can use your stored wheat and sprout it for greens. make wheat berries for cereal and even make a fake meat. Gluten burger!!

 

[TanksHill]

Great thread. I am working on my "emergency kit" as we speek. Lots of things I have forgotten.

Does anyone know of a good book to describe and explain the different types of wheat and their purposes?
I have a new faviorite web page. Emergencyessentials.com. Great place for buckets and resealable lids. Food cost are rather high. I found I can put the pails together on my own for less. But, tons of good ideas.
what to have, menus, etc. I bought the garden in the can. Not hybred seeds. they say it will last years in the freezer.

UncleJoe that is a great idea on the tom sauce. I had that exact problem this year. Put the sauce in the freezer.

Oh, yeah I need to get the spam.

 

[the simple life]

We belong to the emergency response group in our state.
We run drills for all kinds of emergencies and then will be called upon to act.

We have all kinds of drills and workshops everymonth from running flu clinics to setting up makeshift hospitals on a disaster site.

I have a workshop next month that is about emergency preparedness with your families.
They will go over everything you need to do and we will be assembling our own kits.

I am sure the kits will be of the basic stuff but will probably be given lists or something for other stuff.

I will check back in and let you guys know if there was anything useful to share.

 

[dacjohns]

It does take a bit of effort, but we use a hand cranked grinder for wheat. My husband is supposed to eat whole grain stone ground flour, but if you read the labels, even the ones that say whole grain usually start with enriched white flour followed shortly by high fructose corn syrup.

I don't see how they can say whole grain.

I'm coming into this thread a little late so I hope I'm not repeating what has been said.

There is a difference between whole grain and made with whole grains. Multi-grain is not necessarily whole grain. You have to read the labels very closely.

A following post mentioned wheat bread. It is a common misconception that brown "wheat bread" is whole wheat. It is just bread that might have a bit more fiber. White bread is also wheat bread if it is made with wheat. Flour is wheat flour unless it is soy, rice, etc. flour.

The American consumer is largely uninformed about the products he/she uses.

 

[dacjohns]

Very simply. Store what you eat and eat what you store. Protect it from pests and the elements. Have a way to prepare it if you lose your utilities. If it's canned, have a manual can opener.

It isn't good to have wheat stored if you can't grind it and if you aren't used to homemade whole wheat products. The taste is different and it will wreak havoc with your digestive system until your body adjusts.

If it isn't practical to store what you eat, for example you live off of frozen dinners and frozen pizzas, you might want to rethink your diet.

 

[Homesteadmom]

I would add condiments to that list like ketchup, mustard, mayo, bbq sauce, syrup.


I would like to add I got my 100#s of wheat at a yard sale for $5 ea so not too expensive there. Plus my hand grinder was only $50 from Back to Basics. So that was not too expensize either & I can use it weither we have electric or not & I will have fresh whole wheat flour to make bread, pancakes, cookies, cakes, anything I desire.

I also try to keep all our propane tanks filled just in case too. My stove is gas but you never know. the grill is propane as is the camping stove so full bottles would come in handy.

What about shampoo, soap, deodarant, dish soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, laundry supplies? those are all things you could run out of in a disaster too.

 

[Better Half]

For those who want to "stock up", but not fill their house entirely with food (i.e I have no room for 100's of lbs of wheat ;-) ), do you know of any good links or lists for "real people" stock up ideas?

Here's one.

http://arc-seattle.axxiomportal.com/show.aspx?mi=4171

Remember candles and matches. Stores sell out quickly when the power goes out.

 

[Mackay]

Hi, I'm new here and am working quite hard on my food storage this week. I've really never read any books on it, just going by intuition and it seems, according to what folks say here I'm doing OK.

I went to a local Emergencyessentials.com store and man, where they busy!
Then on the way home I got rerouted due to road repair and stumbled upon a food storage outlet I didn't know about. There I purchases 2 cans of crystalized honey, that you spoon like sugar...shelf life forever. and 3 1 lb tubs of canned butter, shelf life 15 years...a little spendy but I thought if things were really rough wouldn't some butter be a treat!

I've really tried to remember treats, things that make the day a little more pleasant.

I've been playing with food storage for a while and one thing I learned is that you can't keep brown rice very long as it goes rancid. about 8 to 10 months is you have a dry climate, 6 months otherwise.

So now I'm going to experiment on putting some in the fridge and some in the freezer. Anyone have comments on that?

I also decided to stock up on canning supplies, jars, lids, etc. and I decided to shell out for a canning set up that uses a pressure cooker so I can do things faster and with less energy. Anyone use a pressure cooker to can with?

The other thing I'm going to stock but have not yet it wine. I tell you, at the end of a stressful day nothing unwinds like a glass of burgundy.

 

[hoosier]

Welcome Mackay!

I have never heard of tinned butter.

A lot of us keep brown rice in the freezer to keep it from going rancid. I think several of us have learned that the hard way.