# My 'legumes' strategy...offered for your consideration



## Tacitus (Dec 30, 2012)

As noted in my grains thread, I downloaded the "Long Term Food Storage Calculator and Inventory Sheet". That spreadsheet recommended 60 pounds of legumes per adult per year, with the recommended breakdown in the "Rec" green columns below.

I don't really know if it is a reasonable number, but I stayed with the recommended 60 pounds per adult per year.

The recommendations provided a good starting point, but I did create a different breakdown for my legumes which was tailored for how my family eats now, and how we will eat if we have to raid our long term stores (in the "Tacitus" blue columns). Legumes go well with rice, which is good for me because my preps will include a lot of rice since we eat rice often. I'm also focusing on buying recipe elements that go with both my legumes and my grains (e.g., chili sauces, BBQ sauce, salsa, soy sauce, dried onions and various other spices).

(I do supplement with canned beans, but here I am talking primarily about dry legumes for very long term storage.)


----------



## Lake Windsong (Nov 27, 2009)

I think it's great how you are planning your storage based on your family preferences. I would like to add that some dry legumes require more water than others. Lentils are great because they cook quickly with less water. Lentils also are good sprouted - adding vitamin C to your diet and they only take a couple of days to sprout. Storing various legumes for sprouting can add a fresh element to food storage diets, something to consider when thinking of recipes. Just wanted to suggest this as sprouting is sometimes overlooked.


----------



## Tank_Girl (Dec 26, 2011)

I'm seriously getting into red and yellow lentils to create lots of different Indian recipes.

Curries, dahls and soups!
YUM!

Lentils take less energy to cook than beans esp. if they are soaked overnight and then pressure cooked.


----------



## gabbyj310 (Oct 22, 2012)

I used to pressure cook bean and the skins came off,pluged up the hole and I blew the saftey valve off my cooker and cleaned beans off my ceiling for hours(haha) I was just married and only 15..... but lesson was remembered!!Watch those skins.


----------



## db2469 (Jun 11, 2012)

I eat a lot of beans and have many commercial cans stored...Windsong has a good point about cooking dry beans, they take a lot of water to soak and a good deal of cooking time and if circumstances force one to conserve fuel and water, maybe not the best food....since most references suggest that canned food will keep years beyond the best buy date and being able to get the cans now with 3 years before that date, buying them is my plan for now....might try pressure canning them however...


----------



## Tacitus (Dec 30, 2012)

db2469 said:


> ...Windsong has a good point about cooking dry beans, they take a lot of water to soak and a good deal of cooking time and if circumstances force one to conserve fuel and water, maybe not the best food....


Good points.

I guess I have three levels of food prep:

Short Term Storables, or what I call Pantry-Plus: Additional storage of every day food for full rotation--when we need one for a current meal, buy two and store the extra, thereby incrementally increasing basic pantry stores.
Mid Term Storables: This includes bulk purchases of things like canned beans and other canned goods when they go on sale...stuff we might not use quickly or in everyday rotation...things with shorter term "use by" dates (1-2 years) that nonetheless might be usable in the longer term (but I won't push my luck absent a disaster). These are usually more expensive by volume than the next category....
Long Term Storables: Food such as dried goods that I know will store for 20-30 years that I can put away in storage, not use, but feel good about them being there as a backup. This includes things like grains and dry legumes, which are insurance. I may use them, but probably not as part of my daily use. It is usually cheaper to buy a 5# or 25# bag of dry beans than to buy the equivalent in canned beans, even if you pay a greater price in food preparation (water & time) later.
So, I am not totally committing to dry legumes, but I like having them as a long term, low maintenance, storage backup.


----------



## Lake Windsong (Nov 27, 2009)

I agree fully, Tacitus, with storing items in a variety of forms. We have several dry bean varieties in our long term stores. Just thought of sprouts, using lentils as an example, in recipe ideas that may not be part of your regular meal rotation now, but might prove beneficial in a scenario where conserving water would be useful. One of my 'go to' meals is black beans, tomatoes, and rice, but in certain shtf situations, if necessary, sprouts can even be hung in a small bag on a backpack for an on the go meal choice. I'm always looking for new ways to use our basics. Peggy Layton has some good food storage cookbooks, I have the one called Cookin' with Home Storage. She also has one called Cookin' with Beans and Rice. You might like it, since you mentioned preparing bean/rice meals.


----------



## haley4217 (Dec 16, 2012)

Tacitus said:


> Good points.
> 
> I guess I have three levels of food prep:
> 
> ...


I was very interested in your breakdown of food preps into three categories and how you classified them. I started my storage by acquiring log term storage. Like you I included a lot of legumes and rice. But as my family likes potatoes I also included a fair amount of potato products. Like you my purchases were menu drive with basic needs instead of a prepackaged meal chosen by the manufacturer.

A few months ago I moved into the final stage and started my storage of two addition categories. We call our first level "The Grocery Store" instead of your Pantry-Plus. It is a rotational storage of our daily meals, except for perishable goods like meat, milk and bread. The more demand in our diet the more on hand. For example we keep 10 to 12 boxes of the oatmeal we eat almost daily for breakfast, plus the varieties of dried fruit that is added to the oatmeal. Coffee goes on sale and we have $1.00 off cupons so we buy 6 or 8 cans. While we may have up to a years worth of some products, generally if tomorrow I could no longer go to a grocery store, our level 1 storage would last us about 45 days with a small supplement of freeze dried meat and powdered milk from our long term stores.

Our second level of storage is like yours the Mid-Term items like canned beans, canned meat and soups that have a 1 to 2 year shelf life. As they are specific to our menu selections as they approach their Use By date they rotate down into our pantry to be eaten and are replaced in kind with a fresh supply. I also include some packaged meals here such as Heater Meals. My thoughts are that in an emergency scenario we go through our pantry and "Grocery Store" and we are about 45 to 60 days into the crisis. Then we start on the mid term food which gets us another 60 to 90 days. My plan was to have enough food so that we can go 4 to 6 months to get through a winter so that we can have our garden producing to supplement long term storage. If the crisis subsides then we don't have to tap our long term supplies.

Our Grocery Store does include daily things like toothpaste, our brand of bar soap, toilet paper, bottled water, spices, basic medicines and vitamins. All rotated through the system and like most other do, use one buy two.

If you haven't tried it the IPhone, IPad,Android app Prep & Pantry is very handy to keep track of inventory, dates and shopping lists.

One final thought on legumes... Freeze dried peppers, onions, salt and spices to vary the legume diet. Take stock of your accompaniment items to make sure you balance out with the hundred of pounds of legumes, or rice in your preps.


----------



## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

We really don't use any canned legumes any more, we love the dry ones for so many reasons. Taste, price, space, can be frozen, etc.
I like your percentages a LOT better than the recommended ones
5% Lima beans
Lentils, chickpeas, and dried peas are very often seen as somehow specialty items instead of staples and I never really got that. Lentils for instance are very versatile and you can also get different sizes and split/unsplit types for soups or other uses. I love beans as well, I always cook a big pot and then we make bean dip, re-fried beans etc for the next few days/week. It takes less effort than pretty much anything else I cook.


----------



## SouthCentralUS (Nov 11, 2012)

You make bean dip? Any special recipe?


----------



## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

*Cook the beans and then dehydrate them*



Lake Windsong said:


> I think it's great how you are planning your storage based on your family preferences. I would like to add that some dry legumes require more water than others. Lentils are great because they cook quickly with less water. Lentils also are good sprouted - adding vitamin C to your diet and they only take a couple of days to sprout. Storing various legumes for sprouting can add a fresh element to food storage diets, something to consider when thinking of recipes. Just wanted to suggest this as sprouting is sometimes overlooked.


I wanted to suggest that beans can be cooked, dehydrated and then sealed in jars, cans, mylar or whatever method you prefer. You can buy some of these already, but it is a thought for the concern about fuel and water for cooking dry beans. The LDS cannery had refried beans (pintos), and they suggest a 5 year shelf life, sealed with an oxygen absorber in mylar or a can.


----------



## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

SouthCentralUS said:


> You make bean dip? Any special recipe?


I never use recipes I joke that it is my solution to appetite fatigue. 
Every time I make bean dip it comes out different, it also depends on what I have that has to be used. I really like beans so the most simple mix of beans and oil with some lemon juice/vinegar and garlic are fine with me. Most of the time it gets more spicy and added veggies though
Hummus is the same for me, never the same twice, can be annoying for some but if you eat it on a regular basis can stave off boredom:dunno:


----------



## ksmama10 (Sep 17, 2012)

cowboyhermit said:


> I never use recipes I joke that it is my solution to appetite fatigue.
> Every time I make bean dip it comes out different, it also depends on what I have that has to be used. I really like beans so the most simple mix of beans and oil with some lemon juice/vinegar and garlic are fine with me. Most of the time it gets more spicy and added veggies though
> Hummus is the same for me, never the same twice, can be annoying for some but if you eat it on a regular basis can stave off boredom:dunno:


Recipes are like The Pirate Code; they are just a guide.artydance:


----------



## PrepN4Good (Dec 23, 2011)

Don't forget that canned beans can be eaten "as is"; throw a few varieties together with italian dressing (or other oil/spices) & have a quick 3-bean-salad. I'm bringing one to a picnic today.


----------



## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

*Would you share a dal recipe or two?*



Tank_Girl said:


> I'm seriously getting into red and yellow lentils to create lots of different Indian recipes.
> 
> Curries, dahls and soups!
> YUM!
> ...


I have been a fan of lentils for decades, but only in the last few years I have also been more interested in cooking Indian foods. I get cravings for it and it may be an actual need for something nutritional in the spices, such as the turmeric.

I have not really found a dal recipe that I think is a keeper, but keep looking. Do you have some recipes that you would share here?


----------



## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

*Like this, but tailor for personal use*



Tacitus said:


> As noted in my grains thread, I downloaded the "Long Term Food Storage Calculator and Inventory Sheet". That spreadsheet recommended 60 pounds of legumes per adult per year, with the recommended breakdown in the "Rec" green columns below.
> 
> I don't really know if it is a reasonable number, but I stayed with the recommended 60 pounds per adult per year.
> 
> ...


In one of your threads, someone posted about a site that evaluates your preps. I filled in my numbers, which were over the amounts listed for legumes, but not in all categories. I, like you, say yuck to lima beans, so none there. I also have no interest in getting soy due to it being the first known GMO and soy is in everything, to our detriment, I believe. No soy for me.

I am also not a fan of split peas.

I love black beans, pintos, garbanzos and lentils. I eat other beans, but those mentioned are my mainstays.

Following the adage, "store what you eat and eat what you store," I do exactly that. My preps are not broken down into a spreadsheet like yours and evaluated like this, although I think the should be. I think this is a great way to stay on course with your prepping.

When I think of anything regarding to food preps, I think of how I would and do eat them, and what I need to be able to do so, such as seasonings. Lentils need spices to make dal as well as basmati rice to serve as a base for eating it. Garbanzos are a basis for hummus and I have tried to make tahini, as well as keeping sesame seeds to make it.

The other thing I like to do is to keep trying new recipes with my food preps. Garbanzos are eaten in many mid Eastern foods, and I have tried a few that I like.

Trying out new things now, and adding them and their spices, etc. to the repertoire now, I think is a good way to keep a positive outlook on preps, especially legumes.

I actually know people who do not like beans at all. They are not preppers, so no problem there.


----------



## Tacitus (Dec 30, 2012)

My thoughts on soybeans:

Cons:

My family has not, historically, eaten much soy.
I also realize that soy gets a lot of bad press in the West when it comes to natural health magazines, etc.

Pros:

Soy in the form of tofu is a meat substitute for vegetarians. And meat may be hard to come by when the SHTF.
We recently introduced the kids to the concept of edamame, which is just green soy beans boiled (usually in the pod), salted and served...and the kids devoured them. So, I bought some bulk, loose, dried soy beans (no pods), boiled them, salted them...and they tasted like the edamame we had...not as nice, but certainly close enough that I thought it might be a good *food item that the kids might eat, with little-to-no preparation* (boil, salt and serve)
I have to wonder if 1.3 billion Chinese can be that wrong when it comes to a food staple given a hard working lifestyle (as opposed to the Western relatively sedentary lifestyle).

The bolded item above was probably the most pertinent point in favor. In the end, I decided the pros outweighed the cons, even though it is not a huge item in our current diet. But, everyone's legume strategy will be different...and mine is still evolving.


----------



## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

Not getting into a discussion on the merits of soybeans, just want to clarify on China. Soybeans were never a "staple", they were eaten in relatively small amounts and in a fermented or processed form (reduces some possibly problematic compounds).


----------



## Tacitus (Dec 30, 2012)

Oh. Then I stand corrected!


----------



## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

Sorry if that sounded brash, just some info, been reading a bit about food history lately. Kind of like the rice thing, don't know how many times I have heard the "If it's good enough for ___billion Asians" but the thing is, even in China rice has typically been only one grain among many. China has typically consumed a LOT of wheat as well, sometimes almost as much as rice.
Just some food for though


----------



## Tacitus (Dec 30, 2012)

No worries. If I never stand corrected, then I never learn!


----------



## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

I have ground up dried whole pintos with a cheap $70 hand grinder & had refried beans ready to eat in 10 minutes. Grinding the beans substitutes for your upper body workout for the day. :2 thumb: We mixed in a can of Rotel tomatoes & a little oil. Yum!


----------



## Tacitus (Dec 30, 2012)

tsrwivey said:


> I have ground up dried whole pintos with a cheap $70 hand grinder & had refried beans ready to eat in 10 minutes. Grinding the beans substitutes for your upper body workout for the day. :2 thumb: We mixed in a can of Rotel tomatoes & a little oil. Yum!


I love hearing how other people prepare these different foods. Your post caused me to increment my pinto bean goal (pounds per adult per year) by one pound (and remove a pound from another type) as part of my overall legume plan. I just read that you can also mash cooked pintos and use them as a spread. Other people's posts in another thread telling me about parched corn and parched peas caused me to increase the percentage of those items. When I have an additional cook technique to add to my list for a particular food item, it makes that particular food that much more viable as prep food.


----------



## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

cowboyhermit said:


> Sorry if that sounded brash, just some info, been reading a bit about food history lately. Kind of like the rice thing, don't know how many times I have heard the "If it's good enough for ___billion Asians" but the thing is, even in China rice has typically been only one grain among many. China has typically consumed a LOT of wheat as well, sometimes almost as much as rice.
> Just some food for though


Thank you for this thought.

The Mormons used to have the 4 main foods for their food storage (wheat, powdered milk, salt and sugar or honey), and originally, Brigham Young's idea was 7 years of food stored. (a biblical concept) While I like how you can basically get a years worth of food at the LDS Cannery current price around $360 total, I think that nutritionally, we will be better off with variety in our diet. There are many, many grains and beans to choose from, and while I am not as familiar with things like amaranth, quinoa, spelt, or millet, I try to add these kinds of grain varieties to my preps and experiment with them.

The one soy product that I have and use is soy sauce. Making fried rice is a great prep food and can be made with many variations including any of the following: rice, onion, scrambled egg, ham, shrimp, chicken or other meats, peas and carrots, bean sprouts and always finished cooking with soy sauce. It could be very simple with rice and onions, or have more foods added. It is a great thing to make with leftovers.

When it comes to getting protein from our food, Diet for a Small Planet details many combinations of foods when eaten together make a complete protein: beans and rice as an example. It is a book that I have had for a few decades. I recommend it for preppers storing up all the wheat, rice, beans, corn and other basics.


----------

