As much as I hate to admit it, this is a hard one for me. I think it’s because it is like the long term in that you have to have tons of food (possibly literally depending on the size of your family!) but you also have to have a purchase and rotation schedule like in the three month supply plan. I’m going to be upfront and say that I have a mental block about using powdered milk. Kent refuses. =o] I’m going to try and start rotating what I have though and trying recipes because dairy products are a huge part of our lives. Seriously, Kent and Caleb think cheese is a food group. I have heard that butter and cottage cheese can be made quite easily with nonfat dry milk but we shall see. Now that I have that off my chest, on with the post!
I promised a list of ‘best buy places’, but this also includes convenient/popular places:
For actual food storage food we also shop at Costco, WinCo, and sales at super markets in our area. You have to do some price checking but it will be worth it.
How should you go about acquiring your year supply food? Start with the essentials. Remember the year-of-food survival list:
300lbs of grains
60lbs of dried legumes
75lbs of powdered milk
20lbs of fats
60lbs of sugar and/or honey
5lbs of salt
Since all the dry goods are part of your long term supply (and don’t need to be rotated) for this section we will cover the milk and fats. You probably already use cooking oils in your weekly diet, so EVERY time you are at the store, get a container of cooking oil (olive, vegetable, canola- whatever!). There are approximately 2 pounds per liter (depending on which cooking oil you are using). So if you buy a 5 liter bulk container of olive oil at Costco next time you pop in for some milk, you are half way there! For one family member at least. =o] And really, you don’t have to worry about it going rancid unless you store it in like 90*F, and even if it does go bad you could always use it to make an oil lamp for light!
Dry milk (some people say powdered but it is the same thing) is a bit different. To me. Again, I can’t really talk about this because I don’t do it. But what I am going to start doing (THIS WEEK!!) is to price check dry milk at local stores against provident living and the other websites. I know they don’t sell it at my Costco, but other than that, I have only ever randomly purchased 23 lbs total over my entire food storage-ing career and all of it is sitting on the shelf in my storage room. Yikes! I know I’m horrible. That is why I’m committing to do something about it now! =o]
Other year supply items could include baking necessities like (white?)flour, yeast, baking soda and powder, and egg substitutes. Unless of course you have chickens. Once upon a time Natalie was allergic to eggs so I learned this egg substitute for baking:
1t unflavored gelatin, 2T + 2t boiling water, 3T cold water – pour boiling water over gelatin and mix until dissolved as much as possible (much like jell-o) add cold water and stir vigorously until the gelatin is completely dissolved. It smells horribly, but it gets the job done! Thanks to this little recipe, I have “60 eggs” in my cupboard right now. =o]
For your year supply you also might want to have vitamins, herbs and spices, and garden seeds. If you can, or “jar” as my brother in law calls it, fruit and vegetables become part of your year supply. Otherwise you buy a three month supply and rotate them throughout the year and/or until their expiration date.
you can buy comercially packaged seeds and store them with your food storage, or if you buy them at the store in packets keep them in a sealed package in the fridge.
i have never 'jarred'- gasp! this is from my primary president. don't worry, it's on my to do list for this summer =o]
Which brings me to the next subject that I wanted to cover in this post: expiration dates on food packages. This tremendous website I stumbled across http://www.stilltasty.com has invaluable information, but again it takes time and effort to sift through it all. I will give you an overview of what I have learned here, but if you ever have any specific questions just look them up there.
The information printed or stamped on food packaging that references a date is a voluntary statement on quality, not safety. “Sell by” refers to when the product will no longer be deemed fresh. “Best by” or “use by” refers to when the product will retain optimal taste, texture, and appearance under normal storage conditions and if unopened. The "shelf life" of a product (an opened product) depends largely on the way it is stored and the taste buds of the consumer. =o] A good rule of thumb is ‘go with your gut’- if it looks, tastes, smells, or feels off to you, chances are it is. Is the box of pasta that expired in 1998 you found in the back of your mom’s pantry going to negatively affect your digestive system? Most likely no. It will just no longer have as much nutritional value or be as appealing to eat. Is the jar of mayo that you found in the back of your mom’s fridge that expired in 2008 going to negatively affect your digestive system? Possibly. Different people have different tolerances to bacterial growth and mold. Like I said, it all depends on you!
From the companies I have called about this, and from the research I have done, it seems like the general consensus is that those labels are to protect manufacturers from lawsuits. Once a product is opened the date becomes invalid anyway, so it is just a guideline not a hard deadline. It is important to rotate your year supply and your three month supply so that you get used to eating those foods and so you don’t waste them. If it was sealed properly and is still sealed properly when you go to eat it, chances are it will not hurt you. It just may only count toward your caloric intake for the day, not for nutrition.
so, to re-cap year supply: just buy in bulk things you use normally rotating as you go, and set small realistic goals for yourself to implement food you wouldn't normally use but that would be invaluable in your diet if you had to live off your food storage (like me with the dry milk ;0])
'til next week--
so all that old stuff in my pantry isn't so0 terrible after all? :)
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