Of course milk does not last very long and when frozen the water content starts separating, so powdered milk becomes the food storage of choice.  When you have refrigeration if you mix the powdered milk with warm water, mix well and refrigerate by the next morning it will taste better than just made.  Our children also liked it if we used chocolate or strawberry powder mix to add to the milk, it makes it taste better than just plain. Depending on where you get it, milk usually comes in a box which is not safe to leave in very long as it reacts with air and can attract insects and mice. We are a firm believer in 2 liter plastic bottles, especially if you like to drink pop or ready-made juices.  You can store milk safely in 2 liter plastic bottles for quite a while, we have had some that have been stored for up to 10 years and the milk is still okay to drink. You can also put up in #2.5 or #10 cans if you have a canner available.  Masson or ball jars work well too.

It is nice when you have only water to drink if you have some powdered Kool-Aid, lemonade or tea (black, green or herbal) to go along with it for the children as well as adults. Don’t think that you won’t need it too add variety. These can be purchased on sale for a reasonable price and should last for quite some time.  If you get the kind that is already in the small plastic bottle with a measuring cup as the lid, they will store safely that way for quite a while.

Okay, now let’s talk about pasta.  On dried products they last a long time, we have some that have been in 2 liter pop bottles for 10+ years and when we moved to a lower altitude they crunched in some.  But that was fine, it means the seal is good and that was just a 2 liter pop bottle that we drank out of, washed and let dry for a few days and then put the pasta in and tightened the cap back on as tight as we could by hand.  Even spaghetti can go into 2 liter pop bottles. Make sure that you have a variety of kinds of pasta, of course spaghetti & macaroni and cheese are favorite comfort foods and are good to have lots on hand.  But there is also a twist kind of pasta that is made out of veggies that adds to your healthy eating.

Rice is a big one for us, we love it and eat rice probably 3 to 4 times a week.  Rice can be put up in 2 liter pop bottles or cans or Mylar bags which are the foil type bags that you heat seal. Another way you can put up rice is by putting it in zip lock bags and then placing them into a clean bucket.  We have bought buckets at Wal-Mart, Home Depot, etc and have successfully used them for years and have not had any problem with spoilage, also it helps keep the mice out.