Five Things That Changed The Way I Do Food Storage

*This is a repost from 2011
There are so many topics to cover when it comes to Food Storage and Emergency Preparedness.  So when I attended a great class Tuesday at Honeyville Grain called "Five Things That Will Change Your Mind About Food Storage", taught by the store manager Lisa Barker, it got me thinking about how to narrow down the list of all the topics of preparedness to just 5.  Lisa's 5 things are very similar to the 5 things that changed the way I do food storage and also how it has simplified my food storage. (I'll list her ideas at the end of the post) My food storage journey really began on September 11, 2001.  I remember the panicked feeling after watching the Twin Towers fall and then watching the other planes crashing into the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania, and thinking this is it!  The world is ending!  The reason I felt so panicked was I had a 6 month old, 22 month old and a 4 year old and I didn't have more than a week's worth of anything.  My baby was strictly on formula and I only had the one can of formula we were using. I grabbed the kids and went to the grocery store and bought food, paper goods, formula, you name it and I probably bought it.  

As time went by and life looked like it was going to continue I really felt the need to start and continue a food storage program.  I started with basics and had things like flour, but I really didn't know how to store it and rotate it.  I went through several ways of storing my long-term items like a Rubbermaid container, buckets etc.  What I didn't realize was I needed to have a meal plan to create my 3-month supply and at that time I was still cooking whatever sounded good that day for dinner.  I wasted so much food and was really frustrated.  Contemplating what I should do; I know that I was inspired by the Spirit when an idea came to me one Sunday afternoon, and that was to create a menu plan with an ingredient list.  I wrote down every meal that my family ate and then I made an ingredient list of all the items from those meals.  That ingredient list became a built in shopping list. I could buy my ingredients when they went on sale and have a pantry full of food that I used on a daily basis.  This is all kept in a binder with sheet protectors and there’s one for each meal.  This plan has worked for my family for several years now.  What’s great is I can tweak it as I go and add or subtract recipes when we need a change.

My ingredient list that goes with my dinner meal plan.

The ingredient list helps me to see exactly what I need to have in my storage room for a 3-month supply.  I just multiply the item by 3 (which is more than a 3-month supply, but more is better, right?)  and I purchase that quantity.  The CASE LOT sales that are a PERFECT time to purchase items for your pantry!!!  (Because if your food storage plan is to come to my house in an emergency you will probably be disappointed to find that I make you work for free food)  hahaha :)  All kidding aside you really do need a plan for your family!!


Here is my list of the 5 things that changed my mind about food storage:

1. Making a meal plan, ingredient list and shopping for items when they are on sale!!
2. Using the Food Saver to preserve my dehydrated food, spices, chocolate chips, candy, etc. 
3. Gamma Lids!!  These lids have made my life sooooo much easier!  I can open a bucket of wheat just by unscrewing the gamma lid and the resealing it without having to pry open those lids that come with the buckets. 
4. Canning and dehydrating my own food at home!  I never knew how easy it was to can your own meat!  Click HERE to view a previous post on canning meat.  I have also learned to dehydrate almost anything I can get my hands on and then sealing the food in a mason jar with the food saver.  
5. Wheat!  I have loved learning about all the things that wheat can do!  You can grind it into flour, cook it into a cereal, sprout it into a vegetable, crack it and cook it, even ice cream. I am continually amazed at what wheat can do! Making my own bread has been such a fun learning experiment.  Click HERE to see the recipe I use. 

There you have it!  The five things that changed my mind about food storage. These are Lisa's 5 things:

1. Store what you eat...eat what you store!
2. Canning my own foods.
3. Freeze Dried Foods
4. FoodSaver, Meals in a jar
5. I Dare You To Eat It, and It's In the Bag Plans 

EDUCATION IS POWER!!!!

A Food Storage Frame of Mind

I have had many people tell me over the last few years that they don't have food storage because it is just too overwhelming to deal with.  I have thought a lot about that feeling and have wondered why I don't feel that way about food storage.  I came to the conclusion that I make food storage a way of life and not a one time obstacle that I have to overcome.  Just like we shouldn't diet, but make eating healthy a way of life, food storage should be a lifestyle. I believe in having food storage for emergencies, BUT I truly believe it is a principle of provident living.  " personal and family preparedness should be a way of provident living, an orderly approach to using the resources, gifts, and talents the Lord shares with us. So the first step is to teach our people to be self-reliant and independent through proper preparation for daily life." -Victor L. Brown, Ensign 1976

So, how do you make food storage a way of life??  There are MANY ways to store food and rotate food storage.  This is what I do and it's what works for my family.  It may not be right for your family but there might be a few things you could try out.

• Have a meal plan that includes easy to prepare recipes.
• Know what ingredients you use on a daily basis and keep those in stock at all times.
• Watch the grocery sales and know what "a stock up price" is for every item you use in your recipes. Don't stress out about this....it took me a few months to know what a good deal was, but after some practice of comparing prices I know off hand what the low prices are.
• Have freeze-dried or dehydrated equals to the fresh produce you like to eat.  They come in handy a lot more then you think they will.  They are worth the price and cook up almost like the fresh counterpart.
• Make pantry meals that only use shelf-stable foods in your pantry 1-2 times per week.
• Rotating food becomes easy when you are eating what you store.   
• Learn to bake crackers, fruit leather, snacks, breads, etc. to save money and also to use food storage basics.
• Store long term items in a proper bucket or mylar bag to prolong their life. Nothing is more frustrating then knowing you have food, opening it to use, and find it has become rancid.      
• Be patient with yourself!!  I have a system down and know which foods I make every week.  I make granola bars, bread, and snacks on a regular basis.  It becomes natural and stress-free after a few times of making a recipe.  Give yourself time to learn something new.  
•  Plan and grow a garden year after year.  I have only had small gardens and I really don't know what I am doing, but it gives my family fresh food. I feel that we spend time together as a family, and it really helps with our food budget in the summer.
• I don't have foods that will only be used in a "SHTF" scenario.  I use all the food in my storage all the time. Some of my dehydrated foods don't get used as often, but they do get used, and when I store them properly they last a long time.
• Learn to can and preserve.  There are so many times I run out of chicken in the freezer and open a bottle of canned chicken to save dinner.   
• Add beans, tvp, and veggies to sauces, meat dishes, and casseroles.  It extends the amount of food your serving, and it uses your food storage.  There is also the added nutrition when you are sneaking veggies into dinner.  Cooked wheat can be added to many meat dishes and no one will know it's there.   

There are so many ways you can implement food storage into your daily life.  Keeping food storage in the back of my mind all the time I see things that maybe wouldn't have caught my eye otherwise.  While shopping, keep your eyes peeled for clearance and discount items that will work for your family.  I have come across many items that I would have passed up if I hadn't been in a prepper frame of mind ;) 

Winter Weather To Do List

This is a re-post from 2011 but the ideas are still relevant.  Keep warm and safe in the cold weather.  It was -22 this morning where I live.  Be prepared before the storm!

I think winter may be on its way!!  It snowed today and my kids thought it was really fun, but as adults we know how long winter can be.  When it gets colder I always think about how we would cope if the power went out.  I personally don't enjoy being cold and having no heat would sure make life uncomfortable.  There are many ways of preparing for a cold weather emergency and I want to give you some ideas of what you could do before hand so you are well prepared.


Winter Preparation To Do List:

• Have a portable heater, such as a Mr. Buddy heater, kerosene heater and lamps with oil, or wood for a wood burning stove.
• Emergency radio:  crank or battery operated.  Store it in a location that is easy to access and always have extra batteries.
• If possible have a generator.  A 5000 watt generator will run almost any appliance.  It has a 6 gallon gas tank that will run for 14 hours.
• During the winter if it is cold enough outside you can put food in coolers and leave them by your back door.  Store coolers that will fit the food you typically have in your freezer and fridge.
• A great way to stay warm is to pitch a tent in your living room or other room with a heat source.  The kids will probably enjoy this, but it is to keep the most heat in the area you are all sleeping.  
• Sleeping bags and warm weather clothing.  I recently stood in line for 2 hours (by choice) in a snow storm and wore long underwear to keep warm.  I thought I was going to be cold but I didn't feel cold and I know it was the long underwear. Have a pair for everyone in your family.  Wool socks also kept my toes from freezing!  Hats, gloves, coats, scarves, socks, and warm sleeping bags are all important for every member of your family.  
• A To Do Box of non-electric games, toys, coloring books, cards, jump ropes, paper, pens, pencils, etc to keep everyone occupied during a power outage.  I know that my kids nagging me with "I'm bored" would literally drive me insane if I had to hear it all day long.  Keep a box ready for power outages or emergencies to save everyone from boredom.
• A great idea that I got from somewhere (I can't remember, sorry) is to have a menu written out, BEFORE the emergency, with the meals you could make if the power was out.  Have at least a weeks worth ready to go.  If you have a small butane stove you would probably have meals like soups, stews, or rice dishes.  Or if you have a Volcano Stove you could grill, or bake a dish.  Knowing what your menu will be will alleviate the stress of making food when it is cold, dark, and miserable!!
• Have a corded land line phone in your home.  When the power goes out so do your cordless phones.  Cell phones may or may not work in an emergency.   
• Snow shovels are also an item that will be gone from stores when a storm hits.  Have 1 or 2 shovels ready in your garage.

Before the Storm:
If you know a storm is approaching there are a few things you can do to prepare your family.  I am assuming you already will have food and water.

• Put gas in your car.
• Do the laundry and dishes and put away.  Folding laundry in the dark is never fun :)
• Charge all phones, DS games, computers, dvd players, ipods, etc.
• If you have a wood burning stove or fireplace, have all the wood cut and placed in an area that is easy to access.
• Get out all flashlights, batteries, candles, and matches so you aren't searching in the dark for light.
• Bathe and shower the kids and yourself.  Starting off clean will make life more pleasant for everyone.  :)
• Make sandwiches, gather some soup cans, or cook some food if the power is expected to go out.  I would pull out some snacks and keep them out so we don't have to search in the dark for food. 

IF you aren't prepared for any emergency I would then tell you to get yourself to the store and buy food, water, flashlights, and batteries.  Although so will most of the general population, so go early to get any kind of a selection.

If you travel frequently during the winter months it is important to have a car kit in your vehicle.  Click HERE to view a previous post on winter weather preparation and car kits.


"Have faith, unemcomber your life, lay up in store"-Keith B. McMullen

When The Furnace Stops Working

It never fails, the snow falls, the temperature drops (I'm talking like -18 in the mornings), and the furnace stops working.  I kept hoping that it would magically kick back on but I had to call a repair man.  Unfortunately he couldn't make it to my home for 2 days.  This was a prime time to open up the Mr. Heater Buddy propane heater. 

There were several things that I learned while using this heater...

1. It works very well and we didn't need to sit too close to feel the warmth.  It kept my kitchen comfortable.  It sat about 6ft away from the kitchen table and we could all feel the warm air.
2. I went through the small propane tanks pretty quickly.  I used 3 of the canisters, with the heat setting on high, in the 2 days that we used it.  I didn't have it on constantly only when we were cooking and eating meals, but in an emergency I would definitely ration the propane for essential heating only.  
3. It didn't smell and was quiet to use. I also need to store more D batteries to be able to use the fan option on the heater.  That really did heat the room faster.
4. The heater didn't like to light when I turned it on.  I had to clean the small wick piece every time I turned it back on. 

It was nice to know that this heater worked and that it kept us warm.  In a true emergency situation I would be using this heater in a smaller room (ventilated).  My kitchen is very open to every other room in the main floor and the heat wouldn't be keeping us all warm.  I would have to hang blankets and close off the larger areas of the house to keep the heat in one area.  I would recommend this heater and I also recommend trying it out before you actually need it.  Unlike my example of waiting until we were freezing to open the box :) 

Find this heater online, in big box stores, and emergency preparedness retailers.

Self-Reliant Saturday-- Living Wills & Health Directives

Being prepared isn't something that is always for some future event.  There are no guarantees that life will be smooth sailing.  Trials and accidents happen to all of us.  But are you prepared to deal with the trial when it happens to you?

From a tragic accident that happened this week in my family, I want everyone to know how important it is to have a Health Directive, "Living Will" Declaration filled out.  None of us want to think that this will happen to us, but life changes...literally...in an instant. And there are so many decisions that need to be made beforehand.  If my mom did not have a health directive filled out with her health care wishes made known, it would've made a horrific situation even more stressful.  Please be prepared with your healthcare wishes known for those in your family who will be taking care of you in an emergency situation.  It is stressful enough to have to deal with an accident, but to not know how to treat someone medically according to their wishes, will be too much for even the strongest of us.  

Keep all vital records and paperwork together in a binder or file folder. Looking for paperwork is almost beyond mental ability when you are in shock from learning about an accident.  Have all information in one location to you can access it and also be able to grab and go in an evacuation type event.  Click here for a previous post on vital record storage.  

Self-Reliant Saturday-- Kitchen In A Box Add-Ons

A few weeks ago I made a kitchen in a box to keep with my 72-hour kits.  Click HERE to view that post. I had most of what I needed for my kitchen on the go, but I did need a few more items that I have since added to my box. Have you made a kitchen in a box for your 72-hour kits?

These are the items that I added to my kitchen in a box:

• pancake spatula
• travel size bottle that I filled with dish soap
• sponge
• matches
• spice container (it's a tackle container from the fishing section of Wal-Mart and it was on clearance for $1.96)
• And one more stack-able container to hold the new goods 

First Aid Inventory

Taking inventory of my first aid kits, yes many random kits, has been on my radar for a few months.  I have quite a few smaller first aid kits and a box of random wraps and bandaids that needed to be organized and useable for the whole family.  

This is what I had accumulated over the years.  It isn't pretty and I had no system of knowing what was in the bag or box.  At least it's labeled first aid, right? 

I ran across this fishing tackle box at Wal-Mart for around $39.00 and thought it would make a perfect first aid box. What I loved about it were all the different compartments. 

 After grouping all like items together I started organizing all my first aid items into my new box. On the right and left side of the tackle box are two white smaller boxes with compartments that fit my bandaids and antiseptic wipes perfectly.  They are easy to locate and open. When you need a bandaid, you usually need one right now!

In the top of the box I placed all the gauze pads, triangle bandages, sterile cloth bandages, eye bandages, 2" gauze pads, tape, wraps, ice packs, liquid skin, flashlights, scissors, tweezers, and our first aid books.  

Here she is all filled up with all my first aid goodies.  I have heat packs, hydrogen peroxide, a burn kit, more wraps, vapor rub, antiseptic cleanser, emergency splints, etc.  I removed the original plastic organizers that fit into the middle section to be able to fit in all my larger items. I managed to fit all the basic necessities (I'm not doing surgery here) and I now know exactly what I have on hand.  The daily cuts, scrapes, burns, and minor breaks could all be taken care of at home.  I do have a tourniquet but I would only use that in an extreme emergency. I am sure there are many items that I need to add to our kits, but I feel so much better knowing I organized all of this and that the box is in an easy to find spot.  Now, here's to praying I won't need to use it anytime soon :)

Self-Relilant Saturday-- "Thou Shalt Not Be Idle"

"The Church cannot be expected to provide for every one of its millions of members in case of public or personal disaster.  It is therefore necessary that each home and family do what they can to assume the responsibility for their own hour of need.  If we do not have the resources to acquire a year's supply, then we can strive to begin with having a one month's supply.  I believe if we are provident and wise in the management of our personal and family affairs and are faithful, God will sustain us through our trials.  "For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves."  -James E. Faust General Conference 4/1986 (bold and underline added)

Self-Reliant Saturday-- Car Kits

Inventory and organizing have been my thing lately.  Once I get on a roll I tend to organize everything in sight.  I finished with the storage room and decided to pull out our car kit to update it as well. 

I should be embarrassed to tell you that I hadn't updated the car kit since we moved two years ago.  It was kind of scary.

I pulled everything out of the dirty bag and then checked the dates on the granola bars and fruit snacks.  They were years beyond their expiration dates.  And with them stored in a heated/cooled car all the time, I decided it was best to dispose of them.  

Reason #1 to go through your car kits every six months:  food does expire.  It seems that the kids also eat the food in the car kits.  I have 7 people in my family and only 1 fruit snack and 5 granola bars remained in my car kit.  In an emergency I would have to pick my favorite kid to feed.  (kidding)

Everything got sorted and cleaned and I decided to put "like" things in resealable bags.  Mittens/gloves in one bag, toilet paper, diapers, sanitizer in another bag, etc. 

Then it all got tucked away into the back of the car again.  I hid the food at the bottom of the bag, now maybe my backseat riders won't be able to reach it so easily. 

Items to have in a Car Kit 

• Water
• Food (granola bars, emergency bars, no chocolate-it melts)
• Cold weather gear (hats, mittens, blankets, tarp)
• Small shovel
• Took kit
• Flashlights
• Baby supplies
• Wipes, sanitizer, toilet paper
• Paper and pens
• Map of your area with multiple ways out of where you live
• Hand heaters
• Can heater (click HERE for instructions on how to make one)
• First aid kit (we always have ibuprofen in ours!)
• Poncho
• Emergency blankets (the shiny mylar ones)
• Emergency radio

Any other personal items that you may need or want can go in your kit.  Personalize it to fit your family's needs.  Take a few minutes and update your car kit, or put together a car kit for the cars in your household.  My husband drives down a canyon to get to work everyday.  I don't want him stranded and not have a way to survive.  I usually have 4-5 kids with me when I am driving around and we inevitably need water or snacks or baby wipes.  Emergencies big and small can be remedied by having a well stocked car kit.  

(click HERE to view a previous post on using your car as a shelter)

The Great Utah ShakeOut 2015

Thursday, April 16th at 10:15 am there will be a statewide earthquake drill in Utah.  It's a great way "to prepare and survive and recover quickly from an earthquake."  

Check out the Great Utah ShakeOut website HERE and sign up for the ShakeOut on Thursday. Many schools and local businesses all participate and I love knowing that we, as a state, are preparing for "the big one" here in Utah.  

The main message for the ShakeOut is to....

So wherever you are at 10:15am on Thursday morning...drop...cover...and hold on.  Click HERE to view a great PDF of what to do in an earthquake, it outlines what to do in many different scenarios. And click HERE to view a previous post on earthquake readiness. The planning and practicing of drills is what will make a difference in survival during an earthquake.  Don't become passive in this type of preparedness!  We never know what will be in our future and it will only bless our lives to have prepared before anything happens!!!

Self-Reliant Saturdays-- Clearance Sales

There are two words that make me really happy....clearance & sale.  Becoming totally prepared in every way can be a pricey endeavor and I couldn't do it all if it weren't for sales and clearance aisles at the store.  While at my local Wal-Mart today I passed by the clearance aisle in the camping/outdoor section of the store.  I was on the lookout for flashlights and I hit the jackpot.  They had all sorts of flashlights, headlamps, smaller lanterns on clearance from $2-$7 each.  I was ecstatic!  As I perused the aisle a little longer I noticed a camping shower tent on the bottom shelf for $25!!  I have been on the lookout for one of these enclosures to use with my portable potty and also for my solar shower.  I couldn't believe the price, and there were several on the shelf.  I bought the shower tent, multiple flashlights, several headlamps, and two boxes of fire starters.

My preparedness tip for this Self-Reliant Saturday is to always walk by the clearance section of every store you visit.  

The selection is always varied and you'll never know what is there, but it will save you money! This is also an example of why I keep a running list of things that I need to purchase for my family.  You can run across those items on your list at the most random places and times.

100-Day Pantry -- A Book Review

"The purpose of this book is to help you prepare your pantry so that you can eat from it for one hundred days."

The first sentence of this book totally grabbed my attention. An organized approach to having long-term food storage...I was sold!  Is it sad that organization makes me happy? Anyway, I was excited to read this book and try out all the recipes.  The concept of having a pantry full of shelf stable foods and being able to feed my family for at least 100 days, and also having a system that works of rotating through the food, is always intriguing to me, see organizing really does make me happy :)  Click HERE to visit Jan's website 100daypantry.com.

Sorry for the unflattering photo. I was rushing.

 I met Jan Jackson, the author of 100-Day Pantry, at the Self-Reliance Expo a few years ago and after talking with her I had to buy her book.  There are over 125 recipes using only ingredients that are stored in your pantry.  Making a pantry meal once or twice a week is how I rotate my food storage, and Jan's book has a similar concept.  This is a great book to have in your food storage cookbook collection because there are always times when you need to use up pantry items and need a quick recipe.  Think of the case lot sales that we have here in Utah, you could stock up on a few cases of food and this cookbook goes right along with it.  It would also be great book to have in an emergency if you didn't happen have your everyday recipes organized before the disaster. (gasp!)  You could pull out 100-Day Pantry and probably have most of the ingredients on hand to make a meal for your family.  The recipes are easy to follow and the ingredients are quite typical of what most of us have on our pantry shelves.  

Jan graciously allowed me to share on of my family's favorite recipes from her book..... Basil Tomato Soup!

This recipe is really as easy as grabbing a few pantry staples, opening them and heating them up. Don't forget to have a few good manual can openers in your storage!!

Pantry staples at my house include chicken broth, tomato soup, canned tomatoes, spices, pastas, and Parmesan cheese. (The cheese can be purchased in smaller containers and stored on the shelf before opening them.  I  know that my local Dollar Store carries the smaller size Parmesan Cheese containers.) This recipe would also make a great Meal In A Bag meal.  Because I had all the ingredients in my food storage, I would be able whip this meal up once a month and I would be rotating through my food storage regularly. 

The best part of this recipe is that all you literally have to do is open the cans and start pouring them into a large pot.

Everything cooks in one pot for about 12-15 minutes and dinner is ready!

I wanted to show you the actual recipe from Jan's book because I love how she organizes (surprised?) her ingredients.  They are categorized so you know which pantry items are coming from which part of your storage.  Jan also has a section in her book on how to organize all these pantry items. She lists several ways that might work with this system of pantry cooking.  There is also a section in the back that is set up for vacation cooking. Who wants to lug all their spices on a vacation?  But with a few pantry staples you can cook food in your vacation condo/house and save money. It's all planned out for you and even has a shopping list!

I think that this book is a great resource for anyone with food storage in their home.  There are soups, pasta dishes, chicken and beef recipes, vegetarian recipes, and even dessert included in this book!  It's a great way to rotate through those cans in your storage, but also while eating food that tastes good!!  100-Day Pantry is available on Jan's website and also on Amazon for around $11.00.

 (I was NOT compensated for this review. I only post books, gadgets, recipes, etc that I use myself and that I feel may help my readers in their food storage adventure)

Self-Reliant Saturday -- Learn, Prepare, Live

LEARN FROM THE PAST:

• Look up Depression Era cookbooks and find simple recipes that use basic foods, like potatoes and onions, for meals. Click HERE for some ideas.
• What foods grow in your area?  Look up the history of your town to find out how farmers or gardeners grew food in your area.
•  Learn about cold storage rooms/root cellars and how food was stored without refrigeration. Click HERE for a quick overview of a root cellar.

PREPARE FOR THE FUTURE:

• Every time you go to the store you should be buying extra food and storing it. 
• How many long-term grains do you have stored?  
• Do you have money in a savings account for a rainy day?

LIVE IN THE PRESENT:

• Be grateful for the life that you have and the many wonderful blessings that occur in your life every day!
• Use the food storage that you do have and rotate through it regularly.  Store what you eat....eat what you store!
•  Exercise, eat healthy foods and take care of yourself.  If we did have an emergency you might have to walk a long distance, lift/carry more than you're used to, dig holes, rebuild/fix your home, manually cook a lot of food (kneading bread for 15 minutes isn't easy), work in a garden/field to grow food, etc.  Many things we're not used to physically doing in today's world. 

Shopping With Emergency Essentials

We live in a world with a wide range of products available for purchase, especially food storage products.  We are very blessed to be able to order almost anything we need online and have it delivered right to our doors. I live in a small town without many choices for shopping, so shopping online has been such a time saver for me.  But there are times that I really want to see a product in person before buying it, but this requires some planning on my part.  Taking a trip into the city, 25-45 minutes away, usually includes several stops and my lists are carefully planned ahead of time. This week I headed down to Orem, Utah where I visited the Emergency Essential store and I also stopped by a local grocery store to pick up a few case lot items. I can't ever pass up a case lot sale :)

 I receive the Emergency Essentials catalog every month (sign up for a catalog HERE) and I always want to order a few items, but I never get around to it.  This month I decided to head to the closest store to me, about 30  minutes away to check them out.  I have shopped with them before in Salt Lake City, but never at this location.  

 Emergency Essentials

216 East University Parkway
Orem, Utah 84058
United States
(801) 222-9667

Store Hours:
Mon. 10:00 am-6:00 pm
Tues.-Sat. 10:00 am-9:00 pm
Closed Sunday

 
Please note that I have been a very loyal Honeyville Grain shopper, but I do like to branch out and check out all my options. I do think that Emergency Essentials is a little higher in price point than Honeyville Grain, but the quality of the food is about the same. 

 Here's a fun fact:  when you type in a company name into Google Maps, make sure that the location you pick is the retail store and not the company headquarters.  Guess how I know this fact?  See the picture above, that is the company headquarters for Emergency Essentials.  I met the nicest receptionist while I was there and she gave me directions to the Orem, Utah store front location.  I am so glad that the store was only about 10 minutes away from the company headquarters.  Gotta laugh at yourself sometimes :)

I did eventually make it to the retail store and it was worth the hassle of finding it.  It was light, bright, very organized, and the staff was very helpful.  They were out of a few items that I wanted but that just saved me money :)  

 Emergency Essentials carries more than just freeze-dried food in #10 cans, which they do carry quite a variety of!  They have water purifiers of all kinds, buckets of emergency food for 72-hour type kits, cookbooks, all sorts of preparedness gadgets, sleeping bags, Volcano stoves, fire starting gadgets, and more!

Here you can see the sleeping bags in the rear of the photo and the wall of Mountain House freeze-dried meals and MRE's.  There is also a test kitchen along the back wall of the store.  I was impressed by the look of the store and the helpfulness of the employees.  

 Here's a picture of my loot and the register where I checked out.  The big bucket in my cart is actually breakfast cereal!  A 5-gallon bucket of frosted flakes!  I know it's not the healthiest, by far, but in an emergency it will come in handy for an easy breakfast. 

 Do you see the inside view of the broccoli on the side of the can?  Ok, it isn't really a window into the can, but what a great view of what each product really looks like.  The image on the front of the can doesn't always represent the food that is on the inside of the can. Notice the fresh looking head of broccoli on the front of the can verses the freeze-dried image on the side of the can.  I like knowing what the freeze-dried food looks before I open the whole can.  I give Emergency Essentials and A+ for this "inside the can" image idea!

Here is another view of the inside image of the freeze-dried mushrooms that I purchased.  This can is also the smaller sized can that Emergency Essentials sells.  This is great for single people, college students, couples, or small families.  This smaller sized can is also a great way to try out a food before committing to the larger #10 can size.  I had to buy the smaller cans because they were out of the #10 cans of freeze-dried mushrooms.  I have noticed that most food storage retailers are also out of freeze-dried mushrooms.  I hope there isn't a mushroom shortage!! 

 Important information:  Most of the freeze-dried food at Emergency Essentials has a shelf life of 25 years! So if you have sticker shock from the freeze-dried cans of fruit, just know it will last a looonnngg time on your shelf!  My kids are banned from my freeze-dried peaches and oranges!  There will literally have to be zombies in the back yard for those cans to get opened anytime soon! In all seriousness, the freeze-dried fruits are tasty and they go fast in my house!!

All in all I was very impressed with the Emergency Essentials store.  If you don't live near one of the retail store fronts (their 4 locations are all in Utah), don't worry because you can order online anytime!  (beprepared.com) They have a flat rate shipping charge of $6.00 for orders shipped in the continental United States. If you aren't familiar with Emergency Essentials, check them out.  I do recommend their products, but please do your own research and price comparisons before purchasing anything.  I am NOT compensated for this post, or for any post that I write.  These are my true opinions of the products that I buy.