Tag Archives: food storage

Food storage long term ideas

Quick ideas for long term food storage.

The question was asked —
What is the best kind of food to stock up that lasts for years?

Some folks would suggest freeze dried foods such – well you know the major brands and those ARE good to have some of BUT not when you are short of money and just starting out due to the expense.
Use what you store and store what you use.

Keep in mind that there IS a limit on how much you can store, after all YOU can not print money like national governments do. You will need to resupply at some point and be sustainable.

Better suggestions are : I’d raised turnips and different beans , corn, peas and carrots in a garden . anything else that you need to be free of having to go to a store. this is what my parents lived in the depression they had hogs to kill in the late fall. they had a smokehouse to do the hogs in.
OR
whole wheat berries NOT flour, white rice, pasta, salt, white sugar, beans of all kinds, popcorn, whole field corn…. all of this stores for years in 2L coke bottles along with water.. spices….. AND … live traps to get breading stock. rat traps for right away eating. PS learn how to save seeds wild craft / guerrilla or covert gardening. and fruit trees

cross ref http://www.preparesurvivethrive.us/water-treatment-hypochlorite/

www.preparesurvivethrive.us/general-preps/

http://www.preparesurvivethrive.us/ready-or-not-things-will-happen/  This is book 1 the quick start guide to preparedness.

http://www.preparesurvivethrive.us/count-down/

We would like to hear YOUR thoughts in the comments section below.

Please share with a friend

Sausage Wheat Chowder

We hear about food storage all the time but most folks fail to learn HOW to use it. In addition to being able to eat healthier as well as cheaper so that you have better use of your money.

Sausage Wheat Chowder

1 lbs pork sausage
1 ½ tsp salt
4 cloves garlic minced
4 cups water
½ tsp thyme
1 large onion, chopped
4 cups cooked whole wheat kernels
2 ½ cups chopped tomatoes
¼ tsp black pepper
½ green pepper chopped
1 cup chopped potatoes

In a large cast iron kettle, brown the pork sausage. Drain off fat and save for later. Add all ingredients except potatoes and green pepper. Simmer covered 1 hour. Add potatoes and green pepper and cook covered an additional 15 minutes until potatoes are tender. Serve hot. Makes 8 servings

note that you can also cook this faster in a pressure cooker.

This can be made totally from food storage items.

Cross ref —
http://www.preparesurvivethrive.us/corn-bread/

http://www.preparesurvivethrive.us/baked-beans/

http://www.preparesurvivethrive.us/carrot-croquettes/

http://www.preparesurvivethrive.us/to-start-a-food-storage-program/

http://www.preparesurvivethrive.us

PETE Containers

Using PETE Containers for Dry Food Storage

PETE is a type of clear plastic bottle commonly used for foods and drinks such as Coke/other soft drinks and fruit juices sold in grocery stores. The bottles are identified on the bottom, next to the recycle emblem, with the letters PETE. These containers have great oxygen barrier qualities. You can use with or without oxygen absorbers to store bulk dry foods. The low oxygen content of the sealed containers protects the stored food from insect infestation and helps preserve product quality. These containers are well suited for products that are rotated on a regular basis, while still providing several years of storage capability. Some of our wheat and beans have germinated after 20 years stored in coke bottles.

Instructions:

1. Use only PETE bottles that have been previously commercially packaged with food.
Bottles need to have screw-on lids with plastic, not paper, lid seals.

2. Wash and rinse bottles to remove any residue. Drain and dry bottles for several days.

3. Place an oxygen absorber packet into each bottle IF you have them, if not don’t worry about it.

4. Fill bottles with bulk dry products that are low in moisture and oil content.

5. Wipe top sealing edge clean.

6. Screw lids on tightly, BUT not over tight. .

7. Store the products in a cool, dry location, away from sunlight.

Oxygen absorbers

These are commercially available from suppliers, you can also use the hand warmers sold in sporting goods stores OR you can make your own if you really feel the need.
This size of absorber can be used for containers of up to 1-gallon capacity and the hand warmers are good for larger containers.
When packaging products, take out of the bag the number of absorbers you plan to use in 30 minutes and store the remainder in glass canning jars with new lids.

Containers that work well for long-term storage include:
Foil pouches
Glass canning jars with screw-on lids
PETE plastic containers with screw-on lids
#10 cans metal cans have the advantage of being rodent proof.

Containers that do not work well for this type of storage nor for water storage include:
Translucent plastic containers such as milk jugs
Containers that have contained non-food products should not be used for food storage

Good Dry-Pack Products

Dry-pack products for storage need to be low moisture (10% moisture or less), good quality, and insect free. Packaging in foil pouches, #10 cans, glass canning jars, and PETE plastic bottles should be limited to foods that best retain flavor and nutritional value. An oxygen absorber packet can be included in each container for all products except sugar and salt. Salt should NEVER be stored in metal.

GOOD PRODUCTS

• Milk Non-fat dry milk and milk/whey products such as hot cocoa

• White Flour Bleached or unbleached

• Whole Grains Wheat, white rice, dry corn, popcorn, rye, barley, etc.

• Rolled Oats Quick or regular

• Legumes Dry peas and beans, including dehydrated refried beans

• Pasta Pasta products

• Fruits and Dehydrated or freeze-dried products that are dry enough to snap.
Vegetables (Best items: apples, bananas, potatoes, onions, carrots, corn, and
peas Marginal items: apricots, peaches, pears, tomatoes, and green beans)

• Sugar Granulated, brown or powdered (Do not use oxygen absorbers in containers of
sugar you or you will end up with a really big sugar cube) Candy

• Miscellaneous TVP (Texturized vegetable protein), Cheese powder, Gelatin, crackers/hardtack
Soup mixes (without bouillon) dry lean meat such as jerky, spices, first aid
products, garden seeds

NOTE: All items should be rotated. This may be accomplished by personal use or by sharing with others.

Freezer Baskets

Using Baskets in the Freezer

We have a freezer that is at the top of the refrigerator. This is all the freezer room that we have. Our freezer was one of those nightmares that every time you went into the freezer something would fall out. Or that the door to the freezer would not close or stay closed.

So, last week I found 3 freezer baskets (they are 7 ½ inches wide X 15 inches long X 5 ½ inches deep) that are plastic coated wire baskets. I took everything out of the freezer and started putting things into the baskets according to meats, veggies, fruits, etc. I now can close my freezer and nothing falls out when I open it. I did get one more basket and am looking for 2 more that are shorter (only 9 inches long) than the others because of the way the freezer is made. The freezer is still full, but because of the baskets the items don’t slip and slide anymore. And, I can get more in the freezer, and use the available space, than before without the door not closing.

And, if I want to see what type of meat I have I can pull the whole basket out and see just what I have. Because it is just the 2 of us, when we cut up onions or peppers, we put them in snack size plastic bags and place them into the freezer and that is just enough for a meal. We also package up hamburger meat in 1 pound sizes and place in sandwich size plastic bags and then each sandwich bag gets placed in a gallon size bag then place in the freezer. Also, when I put things like hamburger meat in plastic bags, I try to make them flat and freeze them this way. It takes up less space than just a round blob. Things like chicken or pork chops or steaks get put individually in a sandwich bag and then into a gallon size bag. When we get a roast we either get a smaller one or we will divide it up into portions for 1 or 2 meals and put it in a quart size plastic bag and then into a gallon size plastic bag. These gallon size bags are marked with what kind of meat is in the smaller bags. So when you pull out one of the gallon size bags out of the basket you have all of that kind of meat that is in the freezer. Personally, I don’t like to freeze meat in the container that I bought it in because of the extra room the packaging takes. So, that is why I place them in plastic bags when I get home from the store.

I have taken hamburger meat and browned it first and then package it up, that way when you fix a meal it is quicker than having to brown the meat first before you add it to whatever you are cooking. The same goes with onion you can brown a couple of onions first and then freeze them. You could even go ahead and brown your hamburger, onion and peppers together and then freeze. This way if you are behind getting dinner ready you will have more fast food at home in the freezer ready to go.

The baskets in the freezer sure have made my life easier. And because of this I am looking at other ways to use baskets or plastic containers for the refrigerator and cabinets.

Food Formula

FORMULA FOR PUTTING TOGETHER 72-HOUR FOOD SUPPLY

Number of days packing for [3-6-14 days,3-6-12 months]
X Number of meals per day [at least 2-3 sort term and at least 3 for longer term – at least 2,500 cal a day and most likely you will still lose weight]= Supply

Supply X Number of family or team members
= TOTAL FOOD SUPPLY NEEDED for the given time span.

As a general rule it is best to eat prior to grocery shopping so that you do no impulse buy extra stuff. On the other hand when planning your food storage or packing your evac kits it is best to be on the hungry side as historically people tend to under plan food needs. Perhaps this would be a good project for fast Sunday.

As you can see this formula could be extended out very far.

Points to ponder: dry goods store better and longer than wet pack does. Dry goods survive temperature changes better than wet pack does and especialy if the temps drop to or below freezing.

Amazing Powdered Milk

The Amazing Powdered Milk

 

When most people think of powdered milk they think, yuk! Powdered milk can be a blessing if you know how to use it best. How many times have you started a recipe and found out it called for 2 cups of milk and when you looked in the fridge that is all you have and if you use it in the recipe then you will not have enough milk for your cereal the next morning. That is when milk powder comes to the rescue! Just take the powder milk and add cold water and presto you have enough for the recipe and still have your milk for the next morning’s cereal. Milk Powder is one of the earliest forms of convenience foods.

 

And since I live in an area that you can, and often do, get snowed in, powder milk is so great to have around when the weather is bad and you can’t get to the store. There is a way to make powdered milk that if you don’t let the kids know its milk powder they won’t guess. The night before make up 1 or 2 gallons by using WARM water instead of cold, this makes the powder dissolve easier. Stick it in the fridge over night. Then in the morning add chocolate or strawberry to the milk and the kids won’t know the difference. When you make hot chocolate you can use powdered milk and then add some flavored creamer, such as pumpkin which can be powder also to the hot chocolate and see if the kids or you can tell the difference.

 

There is a difference in the texture of powdered milk. If you get the kind that is very fine powder it is harder to get it to dissolve in cold water. There is a kind that the particles are larger, I prefer that kind as it is faster to mix. But if you use the method of using warm water to make it, it does not matter as much. Try both kinds and see what your preference is.

 

To store powdered milk the ideal is to put in #10 cans, however, if you don’t have access to a canner, then store in clean dry 2 liter pop or juice bottles [PETE]. If you don’t have that then put in zip lock bags and store in plastic buckets that you can get at the big box stores in the paint section, you don’t have to worry about food grade because the milk is in the bags and not touching the sides of the plastic.

 

The price of milk keeps going up. In Canada when they started the nation wide health care the price of milk went up to $5.00 way back in 1995. So when our Obama Care gets going the price will probably go up that way as well. So, for your family especially if you have children store some powdered milk. You can just get 1 box a week and start putting it up in whatever you decide. By using it in cooking you will save enough to get a box a week. Then start getting the strawberry and chocolate flavorings for the milk and the flavorings for coffee if you like.

 

I like to add it to cream of _____soup to make it richer. It also goes good in breads, cakes and other such. Start with ‘normal’ stuff like all that and then experiment. Remember we Prepare to Survive and Thrive.

To Start A Food Storage Program

How To Change Your Thoughts And Actions

To Start A Food Storage Program

 

Prepping is a way of life and to start prepping you need to change the way you think and your actions. It does not need to be a 180 degree change at first but can grow as you start the process.  Actually when you change your thoughts and actions on prepping you will start saving money on the things that you purchase.  On Wednesdays the big chain grocery stores publish their ads for the week. You can have the grocery stores close to you send you their ads by email or you can purchase the newspaper on that day to find out what they have on sale for the week. The grocery stores’ ads go from Wednesday through Tuesday typically.  Wal-Mart, Kmart, Dollar Tree, and some others publish their ads and they start on Sunday. This information you need to place on your calendar so that you don’t show up on the day that the new ads come out and want to purchase something from the last week’s ad.

 

Next you need to plan. Take the ads and go through and compare them with what groceries that you need to purchase for the week. Actually it does not take as long as some think and the time gets shorter the more you use the system. Some people only want to purchase groceries once a month; however, you will end up saving more money and growing your food storage for the amount that you spend if you shop by your ads each week.  Instead of planning your meals and then shop accordingly, change that around and whatever is on sale, plan your meals around the ads. If roast is on sale, plan to have that once or twice this week. If ham is on sale, plan to have ham a couple of times that week. The same with veggies and fruit, whatever is fresh and on sale plan to have that this week.

 

After you look at your ads if you save coupons, check them next to see if anything that is on sale you also have a coupon for it. This is when you really see the savings. There are many coupon sites online that you can print off the coupons and use. One place is www.refdesk.com/coupons.html. Or if you get the paper and magazines you can find coupons in these.  ‘All You’ is a good magazine that will print on the cover how much money their coupons are worth in each copy.  Also don’t forget Dollar Tree, they have some name brand food for less and some accept coupons. You may want to check with the store manager before you are expecting to use coupons in their store. Most stores will have coupon uses on their webpage.

 

After you have compared prices and coupons on the different stores, then you are ready to go shopping. When something is on sale and especially if you have extra coupons try to purchase more than 1 of the item. If you plan your meals around what is on sale then you will have more money to spend and get more for your money.  We have had times where the amount we have saved at a store is more than the amount that we spent.  And if you do your planning with a friend it is great fun to compare how much you save compared to the other.  It will encourage each of you to get more for your money.  Also if you purchase food at either Safeway or King Soopers [and there may be more stores] you can get money off your gas purchase when you purchase a certain amount of food in their store each month. It is worth the time that you put into the work.

 

One week we had coupons for Campbell’s chunky soups. When we went to the store we got 12 cans because we had a dozen coupons. The grand total for that dozen cans of soup was $0.14—that is correct fourteen cents! PLUS the store gave use 12 more coupons! We had a meeting at church that night and took our sack of soups in and set them up on a table. Of course everyone was interested as to why we had that display set up….  Jaws hit the floor when we shared the story with them. The short of it is that we ended up spending close to $3.00 that week on the Campbell’s chunky soups, which sure did taste GREAT the next several months until the sale cycle came around again.

www.PrepareSurviveThrive.US

grain storage

Let’s begin this section of food storage by talking about grain. Grain includes wheat, barley, rice, corn, oats and pastas. Of these, it is suggested you store 400 pounds per person per year.  When you consider children, it is best if you go ahead and count them as adults, because how old will they be when something happens and you need to be able to feed them.  Also if they are still young then this will just give you more food that you could share with someone else. This 400 pounds is a total of all of the different types of grains per person, not of each grain.  If you do not like wheat then you need to add more pounds to the other grains that you do like. Or if you are allergic to rice then you need to add to the other grains to make up the 400 pounds without rice.  Wheat is the way that you store flour for long term usage. You can store some flour; it just does not last as long as whole wheat does. Researchers have actually taken wheat from the pyramids and have sprouted it and it grew. That is how long it will last.  Also you can not store cornmeal very long either, so you store whole corn. Oats are also stored whole and you can roll those to make oatmeal. I have stored oatmeal for over 10 years in cans and pop bottles with no spoilage, but if you need to store for longer than that store it as whole oats. The added advantage to storing whole grains is that you can use some of it to grow more. Also, whole grains can be made more nutritious by sprouting as discussed earlier. Pastas last for years but you can make pasta also. There is a non electric machine that will make pastas pretty easily. And there is a roller for the oats to make oatmeal, or wheat meal too. You can also make rice flour and barley flour. You can also store other grains that are more of a specialty item such as buckwheat, spelt, rye, Amaranth, quinoa and flax.  There are some others but you get the picture. This is all you choice as to what type of grains you want to store and how much you want to pay for it.

Along with this grain you will also need a grain grinder. Grinders come in many sizes and electric or not electric. And yes, if you have no power you will need a non electric grinder, however, if you will be using the grain now [which you should be] before anything happens an electric one sure would be nice.  For smaller amounts you can also use your blender but wheat and especially corn is tough on a blender and if you are using the blender on a daily basis it may not last very long.  You can purchase blenders pretty inexpensively at garage sales but then you have to find them first. I have also used coffee grinders, they work pretty well because coffee beans are tough also and the coffee grinders are made for daily grinding of the beans. But grinders do work the best and most are not that expensive. I have seen non electric grinders for as little as $21.70 through Amazon and as much as $200-$300 for an electric. And they are all good; it is just what type of grinder you will be using and how much you want to pay.  Some of the manual grinders can also be turned into electric with an extra few parts.

Also along with the grain you will need yeast, baking powder, baking soda and spices. I have said in another blog that yeast does not last a real long time.  You will need to go to unleavened bread aka tortillas or sourdough bread. Shelf life is 18 month for baking powder and 2 years for baking soda according to ‘the book’. How long you store is up to you. The amount you put up of these items will depend on how much you will bake bread and cakes.

Spices are another matter.  Spices will really help make plain food taste different.  Depending on the different type of food that you have in your storage spices will change it us and help make it more palatable. Also spices can be used as trade goods. If you have any questions about how much people will pay for spices, research the spice trade.

How to Store Food Safely part 4

Fruit is an important part of your diet, remember the sailors who had scurvy when they were on the ships for long periods of time.  They found out that they needed fruit to keep them healthy.  That is an easy fix if you have grocery stores or live in California or Florida. Or if you were smart enough to have planted an orchard.  So, there are freeze dried fruit that will last the longest, but you can purchase some dried fruit from the store that will last for quite a while.  I have also dried fruit myself on an electric food dryer.  You can also make solar or air dryers that can be quite large.  If you have a garden this might solve a big problem with the ability to dry your own veggies and put them up. Sprouts also help prevent scurvy.

Beans become an important part of your protein when you don’t have meat put up and there are lots of different types of dried beans that you can get at the grocery store.  Again if your children do not like beans, start introducing them now, change up often until you find a way that they like them.  We have put soy sauce, salsa and butter on them to change up the flavor, and of course there are lots of different types of spices.

Canned meat will last for a while and then there is dehydrated or freeze dried meat, but this gets expensive. If you can cook a little bit of meat in with pasta, rice or potatoes then it will make the meat go farther.  You can can your own meat using a pressure cooker. And you can find lots of canning jars at garage and estate sales.  If you don’t already know how to use or have a canner, it would be a good thing to have because you can use it on an open fire and can meat if you get a large animal and need to put it up.  Look at what you have in the freezer right now, what would happen if the electricity went out suddenly.  If you did not have a way to put the meat up then it would probably spoil before you could eat all of it up. Pressure cookers also save energy and shorten cooking times. See post on autoclaves.

Getting chicken and beef bouillon cubes, being able to make gravies, having spices to change the flavor up are all extremely important when storing food for any type of disaster.   The difference between a disaster and an inconvenience is which side of the conversation you are on.

How to Store Food Safely part 3

Dried potatoes come in flakes, sliced and pearls. Your family may not like flakes, but if they don’t have fresh then they probably will eat flakes if you add things to it.  If you use can chicken stock instead of water or add powdered butter to them and put spices on them and they will taste almost just like real potatoes. A variation is powdered ranch dressing or cheese. They can be put up the same way that rice is. One lbs of dry potatoes is equal to about 10 lbs of fresh and you do not have to worry as much about spoilage.

On eggs, you can break them into a bowl, lightly salt, stir and place in ice cube trays to freeze. After they are frozen you can place into plastic bags, double bagged is best and put back into freezer.  These will last for a few months. If you are concerned about the power going off, you need to look at either having chickens or getting powder eggs.  Again, they won’t taste like the fresh but if you make them into omelets then they will taste fine.  On any of this if your children do not like say omelets, start getting them use to it by adding bacon and cheese and work up to more veggies. Also, if you can purchase some powder eggs soon and start getting them use to it, powdered milk would be the same.  One thing about powdered and dried food, you don’t have to worry about spoilage of fresh and having to throw something out. Also you are not taking up space by storing egg shells or orange peels, etc.

On flour, cake mixes, cornmeal, pancake mix, and things like this, there are fats in the mix and flour and they will not store long without refrigeration. Instead you will need to find whole wheat, barley and rye, whatever you use to make bread. This can be stored like the rice, you can even take and put the whole wheat in a non-garbage bag liner and put in a large, new plastic garbage can on rollers preferably so you can move it around to where you will be cooking. Baking powder, baking soda, and cornstarch will be needed if you bake. Yeast does not last too long, only about a year if you have it in a refrigerator. So, look into making sourdough for your bread, it lasts longer than yeast.

With sugar, as long as it is kept clean and dry, it is supposed to have an indefinite shelf life. If you want brown sugar just add molasses to white sugar, because brown sugar will not last as long. You can also put up honey. Molasses does have a long shelf life, however, again if it changes color, has a different odor, has mold or taste different throw it out. Molasses would be good to have for cookies (comfort food for children).

Oil will not last long either, without refrigeration and in air tight containers. There is shortening and butter or margarine powder that can be purchased for longer storage time. Also there is baking cocoa, dough enhancer, buttermilk powder, cottage cheese and sour cream. There is also freeze dried cheeses, yogurt bites and even ice cream bars.