Supermarket raisins get too dry beyond the "best by" date. They are edible but unpleasant unless you first soak them and then cook with them

Thank you for the reminder: I need to use my raisins ASAP..

 

The older raisins are good for oatmeal. I put the raisins in the water and let them simmer for a bit.

Once the raisins look like they're starting to plump up (5 min or so) add your oatmeal and you're good to go.

 

Useless trivia: Velveeta at one time was one of the makers of the brown cardboard box "government cheese" that used to be handed out to WIC (and other commodity) recipients. That stuff never died, just scrape the outer layer off and eat up. Probably too long ago for some to even know what I am talking about and the recipe has probably changed in the years since.

Thanks for the heads up REM.

 

Gack! :taped: I hate cooked raisins. :

Ok, onto something you may give a damn about. Most pre-packaged foods don't last more than a year. Cake and muffin mixes don't rise as well, jerky will go rancid, dry soup mixes will begin to taste dusty. Most of your one year food storage is meant to be eaten in a year. That's why we rotate, rotate, rotate. And that's why we learn to cook. What doesn't keep, you learn to make up when you need it. The separate ingredients keep longer term where the ready made doesn't.

 

Bear Creek soups for sure. Nothing you can do will extend that date much, not even freezing.

 

Grape seed oil. Don't even bother trying it. They say 3 to 4 months shelf life and you can definitely taste the rancidity at 6 months.

 

Almost all vegetable based oils fall into the "no LTS" description.

I believe the OP was asking more about processed foods that are partially or completely made.

 

Miss Vickies potato chips.

 

The seasoning packets in thevarious boxed rice mixes...
The seasonings go rancid because of some oil product mixed into the seasoning. Learned this the hard way!
Best to buy and store rice and then think about the various seasonings you could use to flavor the rice in various ways. For Example:

Cook rice with Cumin, chili powder, garlic OR onion powder. (I cook this and place cooked kidney beans on top!)

Cook rice with Garlic powder, onion powder, and parsley flakes. (Great served with any meat or beans.)

For the "broccoli flavored"... Order a can of freeze dried broccoli to mix in with your rice! (Great with chicken!)

I have experimented cooking these and find they work!

Slow and Steady

 

Sorry! Processed/artificially "enhanced" foods are useless/inedible ab initio!

I don't recall a single processed "foodstuff" that is not much worse than the Real, Unprocessed version.

We prefer ingredients like: "Cream, Salt, Water" - over ingredients like: Polysorbate80, Levulose, Xylitol, Propylene Glycol, etc.

 

I am getting off processed foods myself for health reasons, but for many of us having a stocked pantry does includes some processed foods. Canned greed beans and peas for instance do not require electricity as frozen ones do.

Processed is somewhat more portable, if not a healthier alternative.

I'd love to have only whole natural foods surrounding me, but that is not the case.

I am in the slow tedious process of moving more in that direction, though.

 

Which brings up a question I had, last week I picked up a couple of Hershey's canned chocolate syrup, I didn't see a date on the can, so I suspect they can last for just about ever.

...Good trading item.

Rancher

 

Bisquick, cake mixes, cornbread mixes, self-rising flour...anything with baking powder in it...will go flat by the "Use By" date. Rotate these.

 

This, and anything with eggs in it, meaning any of the mixes, unless you have the freezer room.

You have to buy the parts. Put your baking powder in the freezer, (date starts when the power goes out and buy LTS eggs.

My 1. do not buy: RAMEN. The noodles are fried, the oil gets rancid, and your family is eating oxidants.

My 2. do not buy: PINTOS. I know, we've done this a million times, but this is a common error. For some reason, pinto skins are the worst for getting hard. Buy smaller beans. MikeK also had a problem with split peas getting this problem. My 10 year reveal showed black beans, great northern, small white, cranberry, even my kidney beans, all OK.

 

What if you just re- add baking powder?

 

What the poster said about making your own baking powder is great info. It is best to buy all-purpose flour and add the leavening yourself rather than buy self-rising flour. As the poster suggested, you can make your own using baking soda and cream of tartar. Also, as a survivalist/prepper it doesn't hurt to learn to make your own starter. Allrecipes.com has great starter recipes.

 

Baking powder will last at best for one year, 2 years if you're careful with storage.

Best to keep the 2 ingredients for making your own baking powder...

Cream of tartar and baking soda. Neither expire as long as you keep them dry.

Slow and Steady

 

maybe a stupid question, but if the two ingredients keep well, why not the combination? some chemical reaction?

there are now tv-dinner type dishes that don't have to be frozen. wonder how long they're good for.

http://www.hormel.com/Brands/Compleats.aspx

 

Earlier I spoke of favorite rice seasonings (since the "processed rice pkgs" go rancid). But I left out my favorite of all !!!!!!!

If you love Asian like I do...Make sure you store some bottles of Kikoman Teriyaki Marinade/Sauce!

Love Asian Cooking? Imagine this...
Overnight rehydrate some favorite freeze veggies, and roast beef.
Day of... Fix a marinade of the beef with the Teriyaki sauce, 1 TBSP oil, some garlic powder and onion powder.
Sautée your veggies in a TBSP of oil. Once cooked to your tenderness preference,
Add the beef along with the marinade sauce!
Cook another minute.

Variations: use canned roast beef instead of freeze dried. Sautee bell peppers, cauliflower, green beans, zucchini, any squash... whatever your favorite veggies are!)

Just be sure to put some bottles of the teriyaki marinade away!!! I can't overlook this valuable seasoning!!!
: D
Slow and Steady

 

I do not consider canned foods as "processed". They're just preserved. You can't go out and pick fresh green beans in January, but you need to eat in January!

If you spend just a little time learning ingredients, many canned and pre-packaged foods are excellent foods. They are just not LONG TERM storage foods. Even home canned is meant to be eaten in one year, though it certainly does last longer.

Yes, buy or home can vegetables and fruits. Buy or can soups, stews and chilis. Buy or make biscuit mix, cake mix, soup mix. Then eat them! Do not put this stuff on your shelf waiting for a rainy day while you go out and buy new stuff to eat. Go shopping in your own pantry! Eat that! Then, however often you need to, go get more to replace it. Rotate new behind old.

 

Since my inner-city location prevents escape to a "bug-out" area, I stock and rotate much canned goods---great variety---looooonng shelf life---contains all the salt you'll ever need…etc.

 

Avoid LTS of packages such as:
(Trying to avoid brand names here...)

Packaged sliced potatoes that have a cheesy packet. (The cheese will go rancid).

Any "Helper" type pkgs with a cheesy packet.

***However...
The packaged dry bread cubes to make a side of dressing or stuffing are alright!!! I have had success storing these for several years because of the fact that you add your own butter to the water before adding the bread cubes.

If you do not have a milk giving dairy cow, then the solution for the butter down the road...

Order the vacuum packed cans of butter powder!!! They will be a very real blessing during difficult times!!! Even now, this powder is great (not even reconstituted!!!) on top of any cooked veggies or on top of popcorn or potatoes!!!

IMHO...If you are against freeze dried foods, this is the one freeze dried item you should consider ordering!!!

Slow and Steady

 

Found out the hard way, if Spam and similar canned meats are not kept extremely dry, as in almost no humidity, they will rust quickly and contaminate the meat.

Also that and anything with the easy open tops do not store well for long term. They will crack easily over time and do not take very much movement well.

 

I never really thought about it, but that makes perfect sense in that easy open cans are not as well sealed for long term storage.

Some canned vegetable cans are easy open now.

 

Even the cheezy packet stuff is good if you get it eaten in preferably 6mo. Even cheetos are good for 3mo. If you're not going to learn to cook your own cheezy potatoes then you need to keep close tabs on what's in your pantry and not loose stuff at the back of the cupboard. A lot of these kinds of things will become infested with weevils, too. If you plan on keeping them more than a month drop them in the freezer for a week before putting them on the shelf.

All this stuff is strictly short term storage. One year or less. The word Long term is for stuff still good to eat 20 yrs from now. There's nothing wrong with stocking up some Campbells soup, but it won't last 20 yrs. It's short term only.

 

HandLoad made a very good point about buying whole foods, rather than processed foods. It's the oils in many processed foods that go rancid and it's overall bad for your health.

So, as you consume whatever processed stuff that you have it's a good idea to look towards replenishing your pantry with whole foods that can last long term if packaged right and that are better for your health to boot.

 

Most beans are still not long term. Five to eight years. That's medium term.

 

You all are absolutely correct, you need to rotate, rotate, rotate. Minimum is one year, to survive to the end of your natural cave man life, you need to plant and grow, and have livestock, one year of storage might get you to the end of the growing season.

Basically if the lights go out, you will need more than one year of storage, and have the knowhow to raise what you will eat.

Rancher

 

A good reason to can. I bought a lot of canned tomatoes on sale very cheap and know that they are acidity so I opened them and recanned them for longer storage. Also have powdered tomato to use in emergency. I also make a lot of my rice and pasta dishes from scratch using the spices I have.

 

I have canned most of my food all my life. I am eating 2013 & 2014 home canned veg. today. I am very careful to rotate the stocks. I also have 7 cases of dried veg in vacuum sealed glass jars w/o2 that I put aside for long term. My target is to keep 2 years of food on hand at all times.
Be very careful of anything with oil or fat. They will turn rancid in a very short time. Brown rice is another short term keeper.

 

I would think any prepackaged "dry food" wouldn't store well long term. Things like chips, popped popcorn, tortillas go stale fast due to moisture absorption.

 

Most chips, popcorn and tortillas are processed with oils that go rancid quickly. But most dried food packed in glass with o2 absorbers will last longer. (I prefer glass to mylar bags)

 

SailorSam-- you're dead on. chemical reaction is what makes your cake rise with baking powder, and also what keeps it form storing well. Cream of Tartar is an acid. Baking soda is a base (or alkali). They are opposites, arch nemeses. Put together they fight, creating air bubbles which make your baked goods rise. All they need is the least bit of humidity. Together, in the same box, they sit in the cupboard and, tiny bits at a time, off gas the bubbles you want to stay there until you put it in cake mix. Soooo, stored separately, they don't loose any strength, just chillin'.