Help me stock up

[RandyRhoads]

Finally getting around to putting food away. I'm looking for at least a 30 days supply. All I care about is that it wont kill me, and will nourish me in an emergency. I'm talking about the point at which i'd eat a severed foot I found in a dumpster. So far this is what I have. 3 gallon HDPE gasket buckets. 2 filled with Ramen, 1 with flour, 1 with rice, and 3L olive oil, and some coconut butter. Should I do one with salt? Suggestions please?
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[crashdive123]

Here are a few things I store.....

Pinto beans
Navy beans
Black beans
Lima beans (large and small)
Black eyed peas
Kidney beans
Great northern beans
Small red beans
Split peas
15 bean soup mix

Mountain House meals (pouches and cans)

Rice (brown and white) Have to be more careful with the brown and rotate it (so oils won't go rancid)

I also store tuna (albacore pouches), canned chicken, canned veggies

Those are a few things to get you started.


I would also approach it a little differently ----- rather than

I'm talking about the point at which i'd eat a severed foot I found in a dumpster.

since you have the opportunity - store things you eat now that meet your nutritional needs.

[natertot]

When I started on food, first thing I did was buy 10 cases of canned fruits and veggies. That's four cans a day for thirty days for a family of four. Cost was less than $100 and the cases stack well, so no repacking needed! Seemed like a good place to start for me.

[BENESSE]

When I started on food, first thing I did was buy 10 cases of canned fruits and veggies. That's four cans a day for thirty days for a family of four. Cost was less than $100 and the cases stack well, so no repacking needed! Seemed like a good place to start for me.

That's how I started but mostly all kinds of beans (for protein), veggies & tuna, choosing stuff I eat anyway. My thinking has always been skewed toward things that, if necessary, I can eat without cooking. Then later, I expanded into 25yr Mountain House and similar long shelf food. I include spices I like and hot sauce, of course.

[hunter63]

Here are a few things I store.....

Pinto beans
Navy beans
Black beans
Lima beans (large and small)
Black eyed peas
Kidney beans
Great northern beans
Small red beans
Split peas
15 bean soup mix.........................

LOL....sorry can't help it.....
Add LARGE container with "Beano".........?

I would also approach it a little differently ----- rather than since you have the opportunity - store things you eat now that meet your nutritional needs.

Most likely the fastest and easiest way....when you buy canned or dried..... buy 1 to use.....and 2 or 3 to store.

[Lamewolf]

Canned meats are always handy to have on hand.

Spam
Corned beef
Chicken
Ham
Tuna
Salmon
Mackerel
Peanut butter (I consider it as a meat)

Just to name a few.

[RandyRhoads]

Thanks. Basically stock up on every item that doesn't spoil. No matter what. For some reason I over though this into specific foods. Basically buy a bunch of crap canned and some raw cooks me storable ingredients.

[1stimestar]

Powdered milk, baking powder, powdered eggs, powdered honey, coffee.

[pete lynch]

dried beans
rice
powdered milk
garlic salt and black pepper
coffee
honey
pancake mix in pouches
tuna pouches
gatorade mix
grits
oatmeal
dry soup mix
peanut butter
canned goods on a rotation schedule

[Wildthang]

Flour, sugar, salt, and powdered milk will be in huge demand if a food shortage ever occurs. And it all can be stored in plastic buckets with Gamma seal lids and oxygen absorbers!

[Sunset Sam]

That's how I started but mostly all kinds of beans (for protein), veggies & tuna, choosing stuff I eat anyway. My thinking has always been skewed toward things that, if necessary, I can eat without cooking. Then later, I expanded into 25yr Mountain House and similar long shelf food. I include spices I like and hot sauce, of course.

So you soak the beans and cook 'em. Pressure cookers make short work of cooking beans and save a lot of fuel (wood,propane, etc.). Make them into frijoles refritos. Meanwhile, mix up a batch of tortilla dough and get a cast iron skillet warming. Liquify the powdered cheese you have stored next to the masa flour. Fry up the tortillas (mash pieces of the dough with the bottom of a pot to shape them) until done. Add the frijoles and the cheese. Garnish with harvested greens, wild onion, and Benesse's hot sauce or, if she won't invite you over, something like Tapatio salsa picante (which stores very well for a long time). Sorry -- mostly raised on Mexican food.

Our shelter in place supplies include in addition to those items already mentioned in this thread:
home-made/canned BBQ sauce, hot sauce, salsas, relishes, and meatless pasta sauces. Canned carefully and stored in cool, dry and dark places in our garage this stuff lasts five years or more. Not practical when backpacking, but works if hunkered down at home or in a BOV.

A lot of folks forget the spices. From experience I can promise that a diet of beans and dehydrated vegetables will get real old after about 2 days without spices and seasonings. BTDT on a 7 person 9 day hike in a mountain wilderness. The person (not me) who volunteered to cook forgot even salt and pepper. The cook was never invited on another trip. We buy those big containers of spices at the membership store and then break them up into smaller containers for daily use and camping use. Can't do without my thyme and mexican oregano.

[RandyRhoads]

I saw a lot of dried beans but decided to post here first before buying 50 pounds of them. Ratios are also troubling me. I guess it's really not that important, the more the better. But is 3 gallons of salt and 3 gallons of pepper overkill? Guess it couldn't hurt to have buckets of seasoning too right?

As far as "good for X years"...

If i'm at the eating a foot stage, what is the problem being past that. Is it just flavour loss? Nutritional lost? Or unsafe? IF it's sealed and bot has been killed etc what's the problem?

[Rick]

Randy - Just remember that there are time limits on all this stuff so purchase in amounts that you can either rotate frequently or package for long term storage. Powdered stuff will usually go rancid (not all of it but most). It will be perfectly safe to ingest but it will have changed color, taste, consistency and/or nutrition. Powdered milk for example will turn yellow. No need to make a bad situation worse by eating while holding your nose and keeping your eyes closed.

[RandyRhoads]

Thanks Rick, so it can lose nutrition. I hate rotating, I barely do it with water. Only have a few 5 gal jugs PITA....

And I probably would never use half the stuff I buy, and if it was something I used i'd probably get lazy and pull it from stock if I was hungry and didn't want to shop haha. Maybe I should just put the stuff away and consider it an expense to throw it out and replace every so many years.

[Rick]

I had to ask myself some honest questions. How often would I use 5 gallons of red wheat (or whatever). The answer is probably never so I don't stock those kinds of things. I stick with stuff I know we'll eat in sizes that won't go bad in a short time if I open it. For example, I have quarts of home canned chicken rather than #10 cans of freeze dried chicken. It will probably last just as long but we can eat a quart of chicken in a couple of meals. It might take a week to consume a #10 can of freeze dried chicken if we ate it every day. We'd never get through anything larger. If someone had their own mill and uses wheat (or whatever) then it makes perfect sense to me for them to stock those items. We don't and won't so we stick with stuff we do use. You just need to figure out what's right for you. Like everything else.

[cowgirlup]

Thanks. Basically stock up on every item that doesn't spoil. No matter what. For some reason I over though this into specific foods. Basically buy a bunch of crap canned and some raw cooks me storable ingredients.

FYI You get more for your money and more calories per square inch with dried foods. Canned foods contain a lot of liquid which won't necessarily have many calories.
I have my dire emergency foods stored as rice, dried beans/peas, pasta, dried cracked corn (Goya Hominy) Quinoa,Chia, barley, peanut butter, pouches of chicken and tuna, veg and olive oil.

The canned goods are for variety and convenience. Some Mountain house items for the same reason.

[natertot]

FYI You get more for your money and more calories per square inch with dried foods. Canned foods contain a lot of liquid which won't necessarily have many calories.
I have my dire emergency foods stored as rice, dried beans/peas, pasta, dried cracked corn (Goya Hominy) Quinoa,Chia, barley, peanut butter, pouches of chicken and tuna, veg and olive oil.

The canned goods are for variety and convenience. Some Mountain house items for the same reason.

True, but the nutritional value difference between the two is completely off-set by the fact that canned goods are not dry. If your in a crappy situation, you will have to use more water to get your dried goods back to being digestible and then drink more water to prevent intestinal/digestive issues. Not saying one shouldn't have dried foods, but the increase of water needed is something to take into consideration. Pros and cons to everything.

[RandyRhoads]

True, but the nutritional value difference between the two is completely off-set by the fact that canned goods are not dry. If your in a crappy situation, you will have to use more water to get your dried goods back to being digestible and then drink more water to prevent intestinal/digestive issues. Not saying one shouldn't have dried foods, but the increase of water needed is something to take into consideration. Pros and cons to everything.

Luckily for me if i'm home with my supplies I have an unlimited supply of safe water.

[Rick]

Murphy will visit your house making that kind of statement. Now think, "what if my water is contaminated". I figure I have an unlimited supply of nothing and plan accordingly.

[RandyRhoads]

True. I guess the equipment could break or something. Accidents happen. Then again should be able to rig breaks back ok. But true...