# What comfort foods are you storing? And how?



## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

Pawpaw made a great point on another thread about how comfort foods can go a long way in being helpful during a crisis situation (I'm paraphrasing, but I believe that's the gist of what he said). So very true. And while they wouldn't be the focus of someone's food storage, they have a place in the big picture.

So what comfort foods are you storing? And how are you storing them?

I don't have any real long-term storage items - I do have some chocolate that's vacuum sealed, but I understand that chocolate doesn't store well for long periods of time. My best 'sweets' are dehydrated pineapple bits.


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## md1911 (Feb 9, 2012)

Powdered chocolate, maple syurp, honey, dehydrated fruits, this is the comfort foods I have stored. Its about all I could think of and would like to know more.


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## OldCootHillbilly (Jul 9, 2010)

Instant coffee an creamer - vac sealed in mylar.

Dried fruits - vac sealed in mason jars.

Coco powder, hot chocolate mix, yeast an such fer breads - vac sealed in mylar.

Instant drink mix packets - vac sealed in mylar.

Canned butter an cheese - canned in mason jars.


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## mdprepper (Jan 22, 2010)

Cocoa Powder, cinnamon. These with normal preps can become many different treats!

(Flour, sugar, yeast, salt, vanilla, shortening I consider normal preps)


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

In some of the buckets of staples we have stored, I include unexpected "goodies" in about half of them. In some, I have bags of jelly beans for the grandson, powdered hot chocolate mix, hard candies(jolly Ranchers).... the list goes on. These may or may not qualify as comfort foods, but when you have been eating stored food for a while I'll bet they would lift the spirits, especially for the younger kids.

I planned for these things to be things to be looked forward to, and to help keep the monotony at bay. 

Keep someones stomach happy and they will be happy even in bad situations.


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## jnrdesertrats (Jul 3, 2010)

Mountain house freeze dried ice cream sandwiches.


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## k0xxx (Oct 27, 2011)

In the mylar and vacuum sealed category: Instant hot Chocolate powder, Hershey's Cocoa, Popcorn Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning.

In the pre-packaged cans, long term storage category: Brownie Mix, Butter, Cheese, Coffee, Instant Pudding, several flavors of drink mixes, and yes... even some of the Ice Cream Sandwiches.


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

I'm gonna have to check out those Ice Cream Sandwiches, How are they? NASA sent freeze dried ice cream up with the astronauts so it has to be good, aye?

We are pretty fond of ice cream here, I just may follow the example.


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## mdprepper (Jan 22, 2010)

The ice cream sandwiches are really pretty good. They taste just like they should. It is just a little weird to have the taste of ice cream, but not the cold sensation. My Walmart carries them (kind of pricey), but at least you could buy a couple and try them out before you invest in a case.

Davarm, what a great idea. I am going to have to add some hard candies.


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## pawpaw (Dec 21, 2011)

Hey Mdprepper!

Don't discount 'comfort foods' as a valuable barter item, as well. Hard candies keep well, and take up little storage space.
DAVARM, Tony's Creole seasoning is OMG to die for. I forgot to include it in my storage. As it stands, I use it on steaks, shrimp, chicken. I haven't used it in a bowl of cereal yet. Hmmm....


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## k0xxx (Oct 27, 2011)

*pawpaw*, we are the same way about the Tony Chachere's seasoning. I have two of the 7lb (gallon) size containers divided into quart size mylar bags and vacuum sealed. I also bought one of the boxes containing 1000 .05 ounce packets, and have some of them in our BOB's, and the rest stored in mylar as barter items.


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## jimLE (Feb 25, 2015)

i got me a stove top pop corn popper a while back..so i've started getting me the pop corn for pop with it.i've started my hand at canning.so i've been thinking along the lines of spaghetti n sauce,and diff soups lately.in which i'll add meat when i go to eat a jar of it.if i hadn't got it right at adding the meat at same time yet.vieanna sausage.diff powdered drink mixes and cool-aid..coffee.


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## DrPrepper (Apr 17, 2016)

I have a 5 gallon bucket with vac sealed packets of trail mix, gum, life savers, chocolate peanut butter, packets of bacon flavored cheese spread, chocolate twizzlers (vac sealed, they keep forever!) cans of cocktail peanuts and dry roasted nuts. My hubby suggested I add twinkies to see if they will still be good 50 years from now, but I think I will pass on that! Mac n cheese is a big comfort food for us, so we have bunches of that. I also have a good amount of popcorn and popcorn salt/ butter flavoring and an old fireplace corn popper. 

Vac sealed just-add-water muffin mix (comes in several flavors- butter pecan, oatmeal, apple spice, chocolate/ chocolate chip, and blueberry) is something else that is easy to store as long as it is sealed. I got a bunch of it on sale at Walmart, and it stored easily in several food safe buckets.

Other things- ingredients for bread, cookies, cakes, etc are all part of my regular food storage. If the apocalypse comes, I'm not spending the rest of my life eating plain beans and rice! Likewise, I don't count coffee as a comfort food- I don't drink it, but it is an absolute necessity in order to be able to live/ survive with my husband!  

I think almost all of our food storage is comfort food in a way. I'm not stocking anything we don't normally eat. I've got another bucket with all kinds of sealed spices and dried herbs to keep things from getting boring. Now if I could just learn how to make Cheese doodles and Fritos, I'd be set for life!


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

DrDianaAnderson said:


> I think almost all of our food storage is comfort food in a way. I'm not stocking anything we don't normally eat. I've got another bucket with all kinds of sealed spices and dried herbs to keep things from getting boring. Now if I could just learn how to make Cheese doodles and Fritos, I'd be set for life!


Here's a recipe for corn chips. Of course if you want them to really taste like Fritos, deep fry them instead of baking.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup boiling water
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix all ingredients in a bowl.
Turn dough out onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a well oiled baking sheet.
Spread dough out evenly and thinly across pan.
You may scored the dough into chip shapes or leave it whole and break it up later.
Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees.
Allow to cool on pan and break apart.


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## DrPrepper (Apr 17, 2016)

tsrwivey said:


> Here's a recipe for corn chips. Of course if you want them to really taste like Fritos, deep fry them instead of baking.


tsrwivey,

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait to try these this weekend! Now I have _another_ good thing to do with all that corn meal we put up!


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## tmttactical (Nov 23, 2015)

I have the ultimate comfort food plan for SHTF. Hunker down at a See's Candy story. Die with big smile on my face. :rofl:


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

jimLE said:


> i got me a stove top pop corn popper a while back..so i've started getting me the pop corn for pop with it.i've started my hand at canning.so i've been thinking along the lines of spaghetti n sauce,and diff soups lately.in which i'll add meat when i go to eat a jar of it.if i hadn't got it right at adding the meat at same time yet.vieanna sausage.diff powdered drink mixes and cool-aid..coffee.


I make popcorn on the stove all the time. I just add the kernels to a large pot. Place on a burner on high heat. As the pot heats up just give it a shake like you would Jiffy-pop. Fresh air popped popcorn. Sometimes I add a tablespoon of coconut oil to the pot and it adds flavor.


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## jimLE (Feb 25, 2015)

we popped our pop corn that when growing up..but then i came across the popper i have now.it not only has a handle attached to the lid.but has a stirrer/mixer attached to the handle and lid.and the lid clips to the bottom part as well..


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## Wikkador (Oct 22, 2014)

peanutbutter.. in the very large jar


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## CrackbottomLouis (May 20, 2012)

Don't forget pancake mix and honey/syrup. Sometimes a nice breakfast makes the whole day worthwhile!


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## Lake Windsong (Nov 27, 2009)

I've made a habit of picking up some sweets on clearance after holidays (hard candies, candy canes, baking sugars/sprinkles, cocoas & chocolates etc). Helps when stocking up on a budget. We rotate through it and put the newer stuff in the back of the shelves.


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## prepperking22 (May 21, 2016)

Bet comfort foods will help the spirit when we are living on a diet of necessities. Any comfort food, whether candy or syrups or chocolate flavors will be good for the soul. Although I have a few comfort foods of my own in way of canned foods and dehydrated fruits. Never thought of candies.


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

Different categories, for example we store tons of hearty stuff like butter, yogurt, kefir, cream, milk, steak, roast, "on the hoof" so to speak 

We store hundreds of pounds of honey in everything from tiny individually sealed packaging that doubles as a fuel source, to buckets and jars, and also in delicious fermented form in barrels, carboys and bottles.

I think you get the idea 

As for stuff that is probably closer to the OP, we don't buy much groceries but I do like tea, coffee, and I LOVE chocolate so I store many pounds of those. More economical to buy in bulk and on sale anyways, so it doesn't cost me anything.


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

I keep coffee. While I keep candy my most important comfort food is coffee. To avoid any threat of food fatigue I stock plenty of spices and of course coffee.


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

We have coffee too. Instant coffee lasts a long time. Ground coffee not very long. We also have a box of Hershey bars. They stay good past their expiration date.


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## SouthCentralUS (Nov 11, 2012)

Vacuum sealed cocoa and the rest of the ingredients to make chocolate candy, including Rice Krispies. Everything vac packed.


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## lilmissy0740 (Mar 7, 2011)

cowboyhermit said:


> Different categories, for example we store tons of hearty stuff like butter, yogurt, kefir, cream, milk, steak, roast, "on the hoof" so to speak
> 
> We store hundreds of pounds of honey in everything from tiny individually sealed packaging that doubles as a fuel source, to buckets and jars, and also in delicious fermented form in barrels, carboys and bottles.
> 
> ...


How do you store yogurt and keifer?


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

lilmissy0740 said:


> How do you store yogurt and keifer?


In the way of raising cows (or goats).


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

lilmissy0740 said:


> How do you store yogurt and keifer?





Grimm said:


> In the way of raising cows (or goats).


Yup, "on the hoof" in the form of a self-propelled, grass powered, self replicating biological factory otherwise known as cows.

Technically I suppose I just store the ingredients.


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

Essentially just what is needed to produce baked goods and dehydrated sweets.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

Sentry18 said:


> Essentially just what is needed to produce baked goods and dehydrated sweets.


Annnnnnd all the chemical components for Coke Zero...!


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

Grimm said:


> Annnnnnd all the chemical components for Coke Zero...!


When everyone else is at Walmart trying to get food and water I will be out stealing Coke trucks for the BOL.


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## terri9630 (Jun 2, 2016)

_I don't count coffee as a comfort food- I don't drink it, but it is an absolute necessity in order to be able to live/ survive with my husband! _

I agree with that quote. My husband without coffee... Not gonna let it happen. Coffee beans and a grinder are better than instant. We have beans being used now that are 3 years old. It doesn't take him that long to drink it, I just buy that much of it.


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## terri9630 (Jun 2, 2016)

Grimm said:


> Annnnnnd all the chemical components for Coke Zero...!


A recipe for Dr Pepper would be worth all my husbands coffee.....


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

Grimm said:


> Annnnnnd all the chemical components for Coke Zero...!


And for the record Miss Grimm, I have been soda free for nearly a month. We have a no soda rule for pre-teen children and some of them were getting very inquisitive as to why I drank so much soda if it was so unhealthy. In response I switched to liquid sucralose / stevia sweetened tea and lemonade instead. I don't feel any healthier, but my wife is happier and that improves my overall quality of life by a considerable margin. Happy wife, happy life.


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

terri9630 said:


> A recipe for Dr Pepper would be worth all my husbands coffee.....


Natural version of Dr. Pepper:

Makes 1 qt (1 L) soda
8 oz (225 g) cinnamon sticks
2 Tbsp (30 ml) barley
1/8 tsp (0.625 ml) lemon flavoring
4 large pieces of rock sugar
3 ripe red bell peppers, roughly chopped
1 qt (1 L) cold carbonated water

Old fashioned (original) Dr. Pepper:

Makes 7 oz (210 ml) of soda
7 oz (210 ml) cold carbonated water
0.1 oz (3 ml) raspberry vinegar
1 minim (0.06 ml) vanilla extract
1-1/2 grains (65 mg) citric acid, food grade
1/2 minim (0.03 ml) almond extract
3/8 grain (24.375 mg) phosphoric acid, food grade
10 minims (650 mg) burnt or caramelized sugar
1 oz (30 ml) simple syrup

Quick to make copycat of Dr. Pepper:

Makes 20 oz (600 ml) soda
20 oz (600 ml) bottle of cola
1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) almond extract
1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) vanilla extract


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## AmishHeart (Jun 10, 2016)

I'm with cowboyhermit in that chocolate and coffee are very high on our lists to always have plenty on hand


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## camo2460 (Feb 10, 2013)

Sentry18 said:


> And for the record Miss Grimm, I have been soda free for nearly a month. We have a no soda rule for pre-teen children and some of them were getting very inquisitive as to why I drank so much soda if it was so unhealthy. In response I switched to liquid sucralose / stevia sweetened tea and lemonade instead. I don't feel any healthier, but my wife is happier and that improves my overall quality of life by a considerable margin. Happy wife, happy life.


Sentry you may not "feel" any healthier, but I guarantee that your Kidneys are thanking you. Soda is extremely hard on Kidneys, even healthy ones, because of the Phosphorus content, and Colas are the worst of the bunch. The only Soda that is Kidney friendly is Ginger Ale.


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

camo2460 said:


> Sentry you may not "feel" any healthier, but I guarantee that your Kidneys are thanking you. Soda is extremely hard on Kidneys, even healthy ones, because of the Phosphorus content, and Colas are the worst of the bunch. The only Soda that is Kidney friendly is Ginger Ale.


My kidneys might be happy, by my taste buds aren't. Actually I miss the convenience of soda but that was about it. I really enjoy my sugar free sweet tea substitute. However as soon as I found the perfect tasting concoction (Nestea caffeine free instant tea, liquid sucralose, & stevia) my wife sends me articles that instant tea is now bad for you and liquid sucralose might be bad for you as well. Pretty sure in the end I will be using a solar powered dehumidifier out in the woods to produce clean drinking water (then end up getting sick from the plastic used in the dehumidifier's water tank).


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## jimLE (Feb 25, 2015)

i use to drink 12 to 24 ounces of soda a day.now i might drink that much in one month.if that often..but as for coffee goes.i gotta get my own coffee plants.me without my morning,aint a happy situation..lol


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## terri9630 (Jun 2, 2016)

Sentry18 said:


> Natural version of Dr. Pepper:
> 
> Makes 1 qt (1 L) soda
> 8 oz (225 g) cinnamon sticks
> ...


Thank you. Now I need to find a recipe calculator to make a real glass to taste. Then I'll box up hubby's coffee while he's outside for ya.


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