Self-Reliant Saturday-- Food Storage Basics

Basic Storage is the foundation of any good food storage program. It is composed of life-sustaining foods that store well for long periods of time. 

While shopping at a local thrift store I found a really cool preparedness book. 

Written in 1969 it was a jewel of a find. While it doesn't have all the latest information on food storage it did have over 100 recipes that ONLY used 4 basic foods; wheat, powdered milk, honey and salt.  The whole concept of this book is that by storing only the basics you would be able to stay alive and survive in an emergency.  The author made meat wheat and all forms of gluten, sprouted wheat, candy, cookies, crackers, cereal, cottage cheese, yogurt, etc, and even had a seven day meal plan.  I'll have to read the whole book and do a proper review of it later, but it got me thinking of the basics in any food storage plan.  

The LDS Church does recommend that we store the basics found in the book above and now I know why.  There is so much that can be done with those four foods. I found a chart in my files, and I do not know where I got it from, of the amounts needed for food storage basic supplies.  This includes a more well-rounded meal plan than just wheat, powdered milk, honey, and salt.  Take a look and see where you could maybe fill in the gaps in your storage.  If you bought the amounts listed below once a month, for 12 months, you would have a year supply for one person.  Multiply the amounts by the number of people in your family to have food storage for every member of your family. 

One Month Supply

Based on a suggested amount, a month's supply for one person would consist of the following:

(the amounts are based on a 2300 calorie diet)

Grains (wheat, rice, oats, pasta etc)   25 lbs.

Powdered Milk   6.25 lbs.

Sugar or honey  5 lbs.

Salt  1/4 box

Fats & Oils  1 2/3rd lbs.

Legumes  5 lbs.   

Estimate 1 gallon of water minimum per day/per person

Purchasing in cans would be:

(1 Case of 6 #10 cans)

1 can wheat

1 can rice

1 can rolled oats or macaroni

1 can popcorn 

1 can non-instant dry milk

1 can dry beans 

PLUS:

5lb bag flour

4-5 lb bag sugar

26oz box salt

32oz bottle oil

One Month Supply of Shelf Stable Foods

Based on the MINIMUM of 1600 calories for one adult

18 oz. box oatmeal

1 lb rice

20 oz pasta 

5 lb flour

1 lb popcorn

34 cans vegetables (or freeze-dried equivalent)

26 cans fruit (or freeze-dried equivalent)

2 lb Velveeta (or freeze-dried cheese equivalent)

4 cans evaporated milk (12oz)

3.2 lbs powdered milk 

1 jar peanut butter (18oz)

4 cans tuna

4 cans chicken

4 cans ham 

8 cans cooked beans

PLUS:  oil-shortening-nuts-sugar-syrup-jam-molasses-salt

NOTE:  For a 2400 calorie diet add 1 more box of oatmeal, 1 lbs of rice, 40 oz pasta, 1 lb popcorn, 17 cans of veggies, 8 cans fruit, 1 can chicken, 1 can ham, and 5 cans beans

When the numbers get broken down into monthly amounts it seems a little easier to buy food for a food storage plan.  Don't get frustrated...please just start small and take it a step at a time.  

(watch for a book review this week of  "Passport To Survival" that I found at the thrift store)  

Self-Reliant Saturday-- Storage Room Inventory

Inventory....it's a dreaded word....but it had to be done!  I finally got around to taking inventory of my storage room.  In January I challenged all of you to organize your food storage  and I knew that right on the tales of organization rides the dreaded inventory. I may have procrastinated this job until almost May :)

 This week's goal is to really take a good inventory of what you have in your storage area or pantry.  

I focused on my longer-term #10 cans and buckets.  These are the two items that I have for extreme emergencies and not really every day use.  I counted all of my #10 cans and all of my buckets and it only took 2 hours :)  I decided that my smaller soup can size cans get used much quicker, and I would be updating the inventory list almost every day to keep track of them all.  That is just too much work for me.  But with this inventory I at least know exactly how many #10 cans and buckets I have on hand.  

 Now I need to calculate exactly how long we could live off of this food.  That is the scary part...it probably isn't as long as I would hope.  But it is a starting point and I can add to this list every month.  Slow and steady wins the race :)

Oh, and I also finally put together my rotating can thingys (real technical).  I have put this off for over two years because I really don't like dealing with all the parts and snapping them together.  One part always seems to be just off enough that the can won't rotate fully down.  But it got done and I love how organized it all looks! (FYI:  the technical name of the rotating can thingy is the Cansolidator from Thrive Live.  Click HERE to see their products.)

It feels good to get this project done but the real challenge will be keeping it updated.  I also discovered a really cool food storage calculator on the Thrive website. Create a Thrive planner just for you and your family.  Type in your family info, how many calories per person, and the length of time that you would like to be prepared for, and it will calculate how many cans you will need.  Click HERE to set up your planner. I thought it was a really great resource to know exactly how many cans I will actually need to feed my family a well balanced diet for a whole year!  Let's just say....I have some work to do :)

Field Trip-- A Visit To The LDS Cannery

One of the best places to buy your food storage is at the LDS Cannery.  It is clean, organized, and inexpensive compared with other food storage retailers. The Cannery is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for the use and benefit of its members, but if you aren't a member of the Church find a friend who is and they will gladly take you to purchase food from the cannery. The volunteers that work in the cannery are happy and always willing to help you.  There are two ways to purchase your food storage from the cannery.  One is to take a few hours and can your bulk purchase in #10 cans, or you may purchase the food in bulk and can it at home.  I didn't have time in my day to stay and can my food so I purchased a few things and used my foodsaver to can them at home. 

The above stock photo is from the Church website and gives you a glimpse of how to put food into #10 cans using the canning facility. It is actually fun to do and even more so when you have a group of friends to go with you. 

The day I visited the cannery no one was canning, but I wanted to let you know what the downtown Welfare Square cannery in Salt Lake City looks like.

 I loved the quote on the wall from Harold B. Lee..." Why should the grain elevator be built?  To me there is only one answer.  The elevator stands as a prophecy of a time when we will need wheat; of a time when, perhaps, money cannot buy food."  That's a very sobering thought!

 The food storage basics for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints were also displayed on the wall.  They are plain and simple to follow.  Get the basics....store what you eat...eat what you store...store water....get your finances in order....then work on longer-term storage.  

I bought a 15lb box of dehydrated apples for $69.  These are my favorite dehydrated apples from any food storage retailer.  They are crispy and taste like dessert.  It's really hard to keep them stocked at my house.  

 I "canned" them using my foodsaver and I don't want to admit it, but it may have taken a long time to finish this project. (click HERE to see how I use my foodsaver to dry can) But I shouldn't have complained because I had no idea how long a 35lb box of dehydrated onions would take. 

If you ever want adults to look at you like you are crazy buy a 35lb box of dehydrated onions like you do it everyday.  I got the funniest comments from the volunteers at the cannery when I said I wanted the whole box.  I assured them that I had a plan for them and I knew what I was doing.  The 35lb box cost $72.00 and I think I'm set for onions in my long-term storage :)  

 It took FOREVER it seemed to get them all canned, but it was so worth it to see the final product.  Being prepared gives me peace of mind.

If you don't live near a cannery you can order a few staples, like wheat, sugar, oats, dehydrated apples, a few pastas, and pinto beans, online HERE and also download an order form there as well.  I am truly blessed to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and some of those blessings come from continually working on my food storage.  And I love a Church that will help me accomplish this goal by providing a Cannery for my use.     

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)

Valley Food Storage-- A Review

When someone offers me free food I will most likely take them up on the offer.  Valley Food Storage contacted me and asked if I would try out one of their products and then review it.  This will be an honest review of what my family and I thought of this product.  I was only compensated in receiving the free product, I do not sell this product.  

Valley Food Storage prides themselves on having quality food storage, where you can pronounce every ingredient, and it lasts up to 25 years on the shelf.  From their website:

• You can pronounce all of the ingredients
• No hydrogenated oils or distasteful preservatives
• Up to 25 year shelf life
• Small, local company
• Inexpensive! Yep, take a look at the price per serving and compare!
• Durable, resealable packages
• Nitrogen flushed
• Seriously good taste!

I couldn't wait to try out the White Bean and Lime Chili that they sent me to sample.  The first thing that I noticed was that the mylar bag of soup was resealable.  The bag contains 5 servings and if you were single, or had a smaller family, you could easily make half of the soup and reseal it for another time.  Loved this!!  The bag was also a heavy duty mylar and felt like it would stand up to being tossed around in a backpack.  

The instructions for the White Bean and Lime Chili could not be easier to follow.  Boil 5 1/2 cups of water and add the contents of the bag.

Whisk the chili and let simmer for 15-20  minutes and then enjoy!  The directions say to let it sit 5-7 minutes to thicken, but our chili was thick when it was done cooking and we just dug in!

This chili smelled delicious right out of the bag, but it tasted even better!  I haven't had a freeze-dried soup ever taste this good!  I have five children four of them ate their whole bowl, and my picky eater refused to try it.  All four of my kids that ate it, LOVED it!  Even my son, who is pretty picky, ate his whole bowl! My husband is pretty picky too when it comes to Mexican food, but he really liked the flavor of this chili.  I have to say that if all of Valley Food Storage food tastes this good, I am rethinking the food in my 72-hour kits!  

I love that it is real food, with real flavor, and that my family really enjoyed it!  The 5-serving bag that I tried retails for $11.95 on the valleyfoodstorage.com website.  You can purchase their pre-made food storage programs, or customize your food storage order to your family's taste. They have breakfasts, sides, and entrees available.  They also sell 72-hour kits, Berkey water filters, and longer-term food in buckets. With the option to buy the food preselected or you can customize the food for your taste. 

Valley Food Storage's motto is "Store food you'll love to eat", I was very impressed with the quality of this food and I loved the flavor of the White Bean and Lime Chili.  I want to mention that it is a vegetarian chili and you could easily add meat, freeze-dried or canned, to bulk up the chili, and maybe add some freeze-dried cheese too.  But I am a vegetarian and it satisfied me, my husband, and four of my kids. My picky eater will either starve or learn to love new foods ;) This is definitely food storage that I will love to eat!