Food Supply Preps

[Truthpick]

I have a couple of cases of MREs and we have several months worth of stored up canned goods, beans, rice, pasta, etc. I'm also doing a lot of reading on here about canning. Have any of you looked at the food packs offered by Pleasant Hill, etc? Good deal? Could be a jumpstart. Maybe just a waste of money.

[Texas mom]

I intend to have a good six to nine month supply of food that we already like to eat and can rotate before I start buying dried foods in cans. It just so happens that we do eat a lot of rice, beans, and pasta (and lots of other stuff ), so I know I will get my "money's worth" out of what I'm buying. I think this is the most economical way to store food for our family. YMMV

[Highlander]

Canned and dry goods as well as hunting and fishing for meat.

[New_Pollution1086]

I'm at the beginning of my prepping career.

I am working on a static (never touched) three day supply. as of right now i have enough for a week or two, but that includes frozen meat, and veggies, and some other stuff that will expire if the power went out. plus the only reason i have this much food is bc i just went shopping.

i have a good ammount of water stored, but i really need a good supply of food thats not in regular circulation in the cabinet.

its hard to store food with 3 other room mates.

T

[Truthpick]

Anybody ever tried one of these: http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/foodpak1.aspx or these: http://www.survival-warehouse.com/fo...FRKIxwodOiadIw or these: http://www.yourfoodstorage.com/years...FRLoxgod4kbudg

We have been doing the canned goods and dried goods thing for a while now and have maybe 4-5 months worth on hand. Like I said above, we also have a couple of cases of MREs spread out among the BOBs and cars. But, I was thinking, my BOL is my Dad's place about 20 miles outside of town. He is a long term prepper (more out of the way he was raised) and has a good sized garden. And, we would certainly fill the rubbermaids with our stores. Still, if I were to get a pack of these, with its 30 year shelf life, I could cache it maybe in one of those mini warehouses? It wouldn't require rotation, or space in my fast becoming cramped garage and basement. And, if located right I would be able to pick it up as needed on the way to my BOL. What do you think? Waste of money? How do these things taste anyway?

[Alaskan]

We have about 1 1/2 years worth of food put away. That's not counting on hunting or fishing.
We have moose walking up the driveway and are about a 1/4 mile from a good salmon stream. Plus a very large garden with totes full of seeds ready for planting.
We have 2 wells on the property. So I guess you could say we're good to go......

[jfountain2]

The pack from survival-warhouse.com had mountain house #10 cans and I have heard they are pretty tasty. I have not heard of the others but did notice the cans from yourfoodstorage.com had TVP (textured vegtable protein) in it and I have had some TVP before and it is awful.

I think it's a good idea but I would stick with the mountain house stuff.

[FXjohn]

anyone ever try the "powdered peanut butter" that's sold in places like waltonfeed?

[HFTB-PFTW]

I have been buying the no. 10 freeze dried foods on sale and stashing them under my bed, they are part of my long term emergancy supplies. I have never bought a year unit.

If you are not much of a cook. and have the thousand dollars to drop on food, the
http://www.survival-warehouse.com/fo...basic_food.htm
didn't look too bad, since shipping is free. I bet if you had a hundred pounds of rice and vitamins you could stretch this for another two or three months.


For me, with my family of six, and my cooking abilities, there are better alternatives. I have better then 6 months of regular food. Most canned foods and cereals have more then a 6 month shelf life, I just rotate things.

For longer term I have sealed mylar bags of staples that I am slowly adding to. Food for 6 for a year is a large undertaking!

[SouthernLiving]

I'm slowly trying to move myself from commercially canned goods to home grown and home canned. I buy most of our dry goods and will most likely continue to do so. Next spring I am building a root cellar to extend our sustainable fresh storage.

I've seen several threads here that have shown pantries with several thousand cans of food, among other boxes processed foods. How do you rotate through that much canned food and still manage to eat any fresh vegetables or meats???

[scorinth]

Originally Posted by FXjohn

anyone ever try the "powdered peanut butter" that's sold in places like waltonfeed?

Hi FX - as a matter of fact we just tried it this week and I'm about to order some for our place. My (adult) son is a fitness fanatic and eats very little fat, but needs the protein so tried this out and really likes it. With the fat taken out it is not as likely to go rancid as normal peanut butter will. We liked it just recon with water but I imagine you could try with a bit of oil and see if that works, or if it would be more palatable.

[ForestBeekeeper]

You listed: canning, drying, and vaccuum sealing.

What about smoking?

Salting?

Pickling?

Fermenting?

Freeze-drying?

[tripleryder]

As for me, I keep and roate (with daily use) about 2-3 months of "regular" foods (reice, beans, pasta, canned goods, etc).
Then on top of that, I have a few months worth of the freeze dried stuff. Doesnt take much space, (mine is in a couple 5 gal buckets), is fairly inexpenzive, and stores for 25 years. No worries, just keep it around...
Between the regular food, freeze-dried, and hunting, should be able to make it quite a while.

[DocG]

Originally Posted by FXjohn

anyone ever try the "powdered peanut butter" that's sold in places like waltonfeed?

I just got some today from Emergency Essentials. I'm going to make some cookies for the kids tonight - I'll let you know how they turn out.

[YankeeGal]

• Three days worth of MREs for BoBs for two people.
• Approx 2 weeks worth of veggies and fruit in the freezer at all times. We eat from this, so it's replaced as it's used and rotated.
• Approx 2 weeks worth of meat in the freezer at all times. We eat from this, so it's replaced as it's used and rotated.
• Approx 2 weeks worth of personally made jerky in the freezer (should hold up to 21-30 days after room temp).
• 45 days worth of canned food (veggies, fruit, meat, soups) which could be stretched to 60 days nearly all the time. We eat from this, so it's replaced as it's used and rotated.
• #10 cans of beef, chicken, tvps, powdered butter, powdered cheese, powdered milk, and powdered eggs with the date purchased on it.
• Flour, corn meal, sugar, salt in vacuum bags, stored in white pails with the date purchased on it. Bags are removed as needed for daily use, rotated and replaced.
• Crackers, Bisquick, Pancake Mix, cookie mix, cake mix that are in vacuum bags. Bags are removed as needed for daily use, rotated and replaced.
• More baking powder, baking soda, vanilla, black pepper, chicken/beef/tomato bouillion, yeast, pasta, rice, beans, molassas, honey, and various spices than I care to count, marked with the date purchased on it. Removed as used, rotated and replaced.
• More personally dehydrated veggies (ex. corn, carrots, tomatoes, garlic, peas, green beans, spinach, celery, mushrooms) and fruit (ex. apples, grapes, cranberries, blueberries, oranges, limes, lemons, bananas) in Mason jars than I care to count with the date dehydrated on it. These have been used on a daily basis, if Im too lazy to go to the store to get them, or forgot to get them.

This list doesn't include things like the cheese, milk, eggs, etc that is in the refrigerator that is used on a normal basis.

All in all, probably six months for two people, but it could be stretched out to probably eight months. And all are in one room, so, it's not bad for two people who live in a 2 BR apt with everything else as "normal" couples have if the "lights go out" and just having a "normal" place to live without "preps" being all over the place.

My project list is canning some beef and chicken.

Right now I'm working on finding recipes to make for cat food that can be either canned or dehydrated. Yea I know.. cats, while they aren't as good of "tools" as dogs, they certainly let you know when someone is around. Some say to put them outside, as they would have to learn to catch their own food however, they would probably end up being on someone's table as food (not ours!).

I guess you could say the way we do it is as follows:

1. Goods that are used on a daily basis. Without electricity, fresh would be gone in a few days. Canned goods would have a life expectancy of their expiration date.
2. Goods that without electricity have a six month to one year expectancy and are used on a daily basis.
3. Goods that have 3-5 years expectancy that are not used on a daily basis.
4. Goods that have a 5+ years expectancy that are not used on a daily basis.

[woods woman]

Originally Posted by ForestBeekeeper

You listed: canning, drying, and vaccuum sealing.

What about smoking?

Salting?

Pickling?

Fermenting?

Freeze-drying?

root cellaring? Probably one of the easiest way to put food up.

[LoneWolf83]

Buying dry goods and cans at the store right now. Also water and other supplies.

[Halkon]

I don't use MREs for anything but BOB, they are too expensive and bulky

For LTS I use 50 lb. bags of rice, along with canned dehydrated fruits and vegetables that are available at

MRE Depot
Honeyville Grains
www.beprepared.com
www.internet-grocer

I wait until they have a sale or coupon before I buy

[Micah525]

I selected food from Supermarket as it's by far the most economical - rotate, rotate...

But we have a few MREs & are totally setup with a garden, seeds & canning jars/lids for a couple years worth of canning.

[Micah525]

Originally Posted by woods woman

root cellaring? Probably one of the easiest way to put food up.

I agree. We don't have a root cellar, but do have a basement. This year I tried storing some of the larger Zucchini sqaush & I was amazed at how well they have lasted - got about 3 months on average.

The only thing easier than root cellar is the root crops you can leave in the ground all winter & just dig when you need them. Of course where I live the only one I know of & that I'm growing is the Jerusalem Artichokes.