As a poor guy with a family, the task of gathering enough food for my little army was a daunting one. I saw how much regular food we went through in a week and I was thinking, "That weekly molehill, times fifty-two weeks in a year is a MOUNTAIN!" Like may, the thought occurred to me that it was just something too big to try. However, I have enjoyed a lot of food from scratch like garden grown produce and flavorful preserves that easily beat anything I could buy. So with some encouragement from my family, I began.
First thing to learn is there is a difference between short-term food storage and long term food storage. Short term storage is an amount of food that is the same kind of stuff you eat everyday. I am not talking Twinkies and Ding Dongs (may they rest in peace!) I am talking about pancakes, butter, hamburger, vegis, fruits, etc. Think about the normal stuff you buy and where there are perishable items, think of the components that make them. Are they perishable? I mentioned pancakes above, Most pancake mixes require only water or a few that are water, milk and eggs. All of which, in various forms, could be stored. Three months worth of regular stuff can be stored fairly easily.
Also only store the stuff you will eat. If you normally eat "Lucky Charms" for breakfast, (blech, just sayin',) then store some of them, with the wherewithal to make milk to put in it. Dry milk has really improved over the years and I have tried some that are actually decent lately. If you don't eat cracked wheat or oatmeal for breakfast, then don't. Just be careful. If you don't eat oatmeal but do like oatmeal cookies, (a great morale building item) or like a good trail mix, (oats are a big part of this,) than you will still need to store them, just not for oatmeal.
Start by writing down a list of things you like to eat, individual courses or whole meals. What are some family favorites? We'll worry about how to store the ingredients later. Just start making some ideas.
You need to be realistic here. Some things just won't cut it. Consider that if you do need the food listed, you may have to do without a few things. just understand, some things will be different. Just don't get the idea that living off of food storage means eating a handful of wheat and washing it down with a rice chaser and topping it off with twenty year old green beans. (Grossed out yet? I am, and I wrote it!)
Once you have a list of the kinds of meals you like, how often do you make them? Lets say I like chicken enchiladas. But I only prepare them once every few months. I also like spaghetti which I prepare once every couple of weeks. Decide on about ninety dinners, ninety lunches and ninety breakfasts. Write down the meals.
Another element to keep in mind is how much gets eaten. As you have meals, write down how much you used and how much you would have actually needed to satisfy your family. Adjust the amounts to match what you "should" have done. Write it down.
Do this with the meals you have chosen, especially the key favorites. A good meal in a bad situation is morale building. Again, don't worry about the "how" of things yet. Very few things are hopeless in storage.
The idea with preapring anything is to know what you want. Get your meal plans done and then we'll go onto the next. I'll be doing this too.
First thing to learn is there is a difference between short-term food storage and long term food storage. Short term storage is an amount of food that is the same kind of stuff you eat everyday. I am not talking Twinkies and Ding Dongs (may they rest in peace!) I am talking about pancakes, butter, hamburger, vegis, fruits, etc. Think about the normal stuff you buy and where there are perishable items, think of the components that make them. Are they perishable? I mentioned pancakes above, Most pancake mixes require only water or a few that are water, milk and eggs. All of which, in various forms, could be stored. Three months worth of regular stuff can be stored fairly easily.
Also only store the stuff you will eat. If you normally eat "Lucky Charms" for breakfast, (blech, just sayin',) then store some of them, with the wherewithal to make milk to put in it. Dry milk has really improved over the years and I have tried some that are actually decent lately. If you don't eat cracked wheat or oatmeal for breakfast, then don't. Just be careful. If you don't eat oatmeal but do like oatmeal cookies, (a great morale building item) or like a good trail mix, (oats are a big part of this,) than you will still need to store them, just not for oatmeal.
Start by writing down a list of things you like to eat, individual courses or whole meals. What are some family favorites? We'll worry about how to store the ingredients later. Just start making some ideas.
You need to be realistic here. Some things just won't cut it. Consider that if you do need the food listed, you may have to do without a few things. just understand, some things will be different. Just don't get the idea that living off of food storage means eating a handful of wheat and washing it down with a rice chaser and topping it off with twenty year old green beans. (Grossed out yet? I am, and I wrote it!)
Once you have a list of the kinds of meals you like, how often do you make them? Lets say I like chicken enchiladas. But I only prepare them once every few months. I also like spaghetti which I prepare once every couple of weeks. Decide on about ninety dinners, ninety lunches and ninety breakfasts. Write down the meals.
Another element to keep in mind is how much gets eaten. As you have meals, write down how much you used and how much you would have actually needed to satisfy your family. Adjust the amounts to match what you "should" have done. Write it down.
Do this with the meals you have chosen, especially the key favorites. A good meal in a bad situation is morale building. Again, don't worry about the "how" of things yet. Very few things are hopeless in storage.
The idea with preapring anything is to know what you want. Get your meal plans done and then we'll go onto the next. I'll be doing this too.
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