# Food Categories; Variety in your Food Preps



## Tacitus (Dec 30, 2012)

I talked here about how I broke my food prep into 3 categories, short, mid and long term storables.

I break down my food preps in other ways as well:
Bulk: 25 and 50 pound bags of wheat, rice, oats, dried beans, etc.
Freeze Dried: #10 cans or pouches of dehydrated or freeze dried meals, fruits & veggies
Backpack: MRE's, food bars
Recipe & Cooking Aids: spices, sauces, etc.

Initially, I was aggressively buying bulk (various grains, various dried beans) because that is the _cheapest way to build up a big supply from nothing_. Orginally, I set a goal of a year's supply. When I realized how challenging that would be for me, I significantly reduced my goals across the board. I wanted to achieve some shorter term goals (e.g., a few months) for everything; I didn't want a year supply of one thing and 1 month supply of something else.

But, as I start nearing my (reduced) goals on bulk foods, I started to realize that I should further diversify before I moved on to extending my supplies by another few months. I didn't want to have all bulk foods and very little dehydrated, for example. So, now I'm starting to move to freeze dried foods. Now, freeze dried foods are definitely more expensive, so this is looking like it will hurt a little financially. But, having the freeze dried foods will provide some much needed variety with the bulk grains and beans.

I also started buying recipe aids...spices and sauces and the like, for my bulk foods.

And, I've been thinking more about my "get home" situation on trips. I am moving towards building up my supply of MREs and food bars and even dehydrated food pouches (modern versions of the Long Range Patrol or LRP rations) usable on trips (not #10 cans of dehydrated food for bugging in).

Variety is the spice of life, and it is probably better to have 3 months of bulk and 3 months of freeze dried foods (both store it and forget it type foods), along with 3 months of cans & pantry items (rotatables), and a few weeks of MRE's and foodbars (transportables)...better that than to have 9-10 months of dried rice and beans in 5 gallon buckets.


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

Sounds like you are really thinking about this as you go, that's great because I have seen people buy huge quantities of stuff they don't even like then end up wasting it.
For me I have almost no role for MRE's they are not even light and are barely food, others like them and deem them worth the price. Protein bars I use a tiny bit, always have some with me but not really what I want to eat.
Freeze dried is nearly the same for me, not really worth it. Only use is for lightweight hiking and stuff I don't use enough to have fresh.
I don't see the point of buying it because it lasts for 20 years for example if I only have six months worth of it. Why not buy six months worth of stuff I like enough to eat now and set that extra money aside for something else.
I completely agree on the variety though. We eat a lot of dried goods like wheat, beans, lentils, oats. But we always have dried, canned, or fresh veggies and meat to go with it, and more herbs, spices and sauces than a restaurant.


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## FrankW (Mar 10, 2012)

I always make sure to throw a few bottles of vitamin tablets into my food prep boxes.

Early pioneers often suffered from vitamin deficiencies especially skorbut and rickets.

Much prep type food can be short of vitamins, especially water soluble ones like the all important (immune system, muscles, tendons) vitamin C.

I have 5 bottles of Vitamin C and 5 bottles of multivitamins.
In a SHTF situation I would take one tables every 2 -3 days .
That would ensure a decent supply of vitamins even when living off pasta beans rice and spam, while stretching those vitamin bottles ot last me 10 years or more.

yes vitamins can lose their potency over time but there are ways to slow that down.
And besides even if a 500mg C pill has lost 50% of its potency over the years, that's still 250mg which is a LOT.


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## Tacitus (Dec 30, 2012)

_Great_ point on the vitamins.

I have a year's supply of multivitamins, Vitamin C, and Calcium for the family. I bought them early on, stored them, and forgot about them. (I bought the calcium pills back before I started buying dehydrated milk powder.) Those vitamins are probably the only things I have a year's supply of. They are stored well, but given that I'm not rotating them, I will likely have to replace them in a few years.

But, they are hard pills, and my doctor told me that when it came to medicines, solid pills will last longer than gelcaps, liquids or even creams/ointments.


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

Vitamin C is not much of an issue up in our area, we can pick wild rose hips pretty much year round and they store very well, excellent in "tea" or soup.
But yes BlueZ makes a good point when switching to a new diet (like pioneers did) and way of life, paying attention to nutrition is very important.


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

cowboyhermit said:


> Vitamin C is not much of an issue up in our area, we can pick wild rose hips pretty much year round and they store very well, excellent in "tea" or soup.
> But yes BlueZ makes a good point when switching to a new diet (like pioneers did) and way of life, paying attention to nutrition is very important.


Rose hip tea or maybe a white pine tea ...  (Or one of the many others... you know the weeds we walk on daily.)


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

*Another way to prepare*

I started the same way with those same goals. And then I did research about what to have.

Often people are wondering how they can buy the basics and what should they get and how much. Decades ago when I took a food storage class at and LDS church, their recommendation was to begin with 4 basic items: wheat, honey or sugar, oil and salt. You could live indefinitely on these 4 items, but it could be boring, dangerous to your health and some people are just not interested.

The thing about it though, is that you could buy 400 pounds of wheat, a recommended amount for one adult for one year for $200.00. For people with larger families and limited income, that is a challenge. But it really is the cheapest way to prep food. Personally, I always think that if I only have 2 weeks of food preps, then that is as long as I can expect to eat and then life will be tough. We know there are many who will experience this.

Provident Living, a Mormon site, has it broken down as I had always imagined it, beginning with the 4 basics and how to round it out in steps. I really like how they have figured it out. They include oats, milk, rice and beans and give you a visual of what a day's ration would look like and how much (or how little) you would get each day. And they have a picture of what a year's food would look like.

http://www.provident-living-today.com/Bulk-Food-Storage.html
http://www.provident-living-today.com/Bulk-Food-Storage.html

I know that there are people who don't want to deal with wheat, or can't deal with wheat. I heard a story about a young Mormon wife and mother who didn't have any food storage because she didn't want to eat wheat or cook it. I understand that. But when the SHTF, the over processed food that so many are addicted to will be gone for a long time, if not forever.

Rice is cheap and easy to store, and has a very long shelf life, but it has almost no nutritional value. It will be a filler and definitely needs some beans and seasonings.

Personally, I am not nearly as prepared as I would like to be, but I would have 10 years or more stored if I could. I too have considered how boring it would be to just have wheat and have tried to add other items as suggested in the Provident Living website.


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## swjohnsey (Jan 21, 2013)

A pound of rice has 1,632 calories and 32 grams of protein. I big percentage of the world's population subsist on little else.


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## Roslyn (Feb 20, 2012)

I store UB rice because it has its nutrition in it, and it stores better than brown rice.

However, I also store barley and I'm saving for a grain grinder.

Go to youtube and check out Alton Brown's video on barley





it takes you through some basic barley info and in my opinion it would be a better option for nutrition for storage. Make sure you store some to use as a seed crop!! Gotta make that beer!!


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## swjohnsey (Jan 21, 2013)

What is UB rice? I eat brown rice normally but store enriched white rice because of the storage problem with brown rice. I plan on storing wheat in the future but I don't have the stuff to turn it into flour so for now it is just enriched flour. 

With what I have on hand the average pioneer family would be happy, sugar, lard, flour, beans, rice, oats, coffee, peanut butter. I plan on supplement it with garden, road kill, hunting, fishing, etc.


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

> Great point on the vitamins.


I have recently been buying some superfood packets. They are nutrient dense packets that you mix with water and drink like tea. They taste horrible but offer a lot of nutrition and take up very little space. They are also more likely to absorbed in your system and less likely to be expelled with your waste (like a lot of vitamins in tablet form). I have been buying and trying different products looking for one that offers the most with the least offensive taste. Then I will start buying a couple boxes monthly. The ones I am trying now are Garden of Life - Perfect Food Raw.

On a side note my wife started to drink these things every day (for the last 5-6 months). Although hers are more expensive than the ones I have been buying. She definitely seems to have more energy and has been more resistant to and less affected by colds, allergies and things of that nature.


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## Reblazed (Nov 11, 2010)

Sentry18 said:


> On a side note my wife started to drink these things every day (for the last 5-6 months). Although hers are more expensive than the ones I have been buying. She definitely seems to have more energy and has been more resistant to and less affected by colds, allergies and things of that nature.


I've been looking for some like this that I know are effective. What brand does you wife use?


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## swjohnsey (Jan 21, 2013)

The mind is a powerful thing. Just buy a single bottle and refill it from the tap. The result will be the same.


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

swjohnsey said:


> The mind is a powerful thing.


Some are, yours :dunno:

Some vitamins and other nutrients certainly have an effect.
However even if it in fact was a placebo effect then filling a bottle from the tap will not give the same results


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## cybergranny (Mar 11, 2011)

Reality of it all is the fact that water or fuel maybe a rationed problem or non existent. So when I realized that, I started learning to can so I would have stores that you could, if you must, open and eat. I started with rice, beans, wheat(bulk so we would have something to eat to start with); then progressed to some canned goods, then freeze dried and dehydrated; spices, boullion, salt, pepper, etc. Splurged on some #10 cans for very long term storage. The idea was I may not be able to cook or have water..... so I made my stores fit every scenario, even solar in a jar.


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## swjohnsey (Jan 21, 2013)

cowboyhermit said:


> Some are, yours :dunno:
> 
> Some vitamins and other nutrients certainly have an effect.
> However even if it in fact was a placebo effect then filling a bottle from the tap will not give the same results


They sure do. Most folks will get adequate vitamins in their daily diet. A high quality vitamin tablet with more than 100% RDA of most vitamins and minerals will run you about a nickel. Excess of most vitamins will just be excreted in urine. I think it was Dr. Dean Edel who said Americans had the most expensive urine in the world. A few will poison you like A, D and K.


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

I agree with swjohnsey the mind is VERY powerful. How else could he convince himself that his posts are relevant and witty (which they are obviously not) while the rest of us simply wonder why the halfway house he lives in lets him on the internet so much. My only guess is that they use internet time to keep him from acting out and harassing the other residents.


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

> I've been looking for some like this that I know are effective. What brand does you wife use?


She uses a product called "Greens" made by ItWorks. She has used a few different products but likes the greens because they are a little less expensive and her friends is a distributor.


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## swjohnsey (Jan 21, 2013)

Sentry18 said:


> I agree with swjohnsey the mind is VERY powerful. How else could he convince himself that his posts are relevant and witty (which they are obviously not) while the rest of us simply wonder why the halfway house he lives in lets him on the internet so much. My only guess is that they use internet time to keep him from acting out and harassing the other residents.


I thought I was on ignore.


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## Toffee (Mar 13, 2012)

If you are just starting out, I would recommend checking out foodstoragemadeeasy.net They have a great system for easing into preppping and good links to other sites for using your food storage, getting good deals, meal planning, and if you need it, more emergency type items and whatnot.


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

Primarily I store what I eat, just more of it. First in first out keeps my food rotated and fresh. I keep more canned vegetables than many items on the off chance that fresh or frozen are unavailable. Spices and condiments are an important part of my stores. I can eat a lot of beans if I have a chunk of ham to flavor them with so a few canned hams were added. If I eat it and it will store I keep it on the shelves. There are a handful of things that I keep as long term stores that I don't regularly use but few. 

I also keep vitamins and supplements. If you think that vitamins make my urine expensive you should test my pee for prescription drugs. 

Don't forget all the non edible consumables like TP and other paper products, foil, tapes, bags, soaps and shampoos, etc. This list is endless. I have lived where I might not even be close to a store for over a month and when I found one it might not have much of a selection. Learn to anticipate your needs. My stores continue to grow in both breadth and depth.


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## Beaniemaster2 (May 22, 2012)

I stock anything and everything I can... Yes, rotation is imperative but so is how you store it... One thing I wouldn't be without is my Foodsaver!!! Like, I got bags of Xmas cookies in Dec 2011 for 25cts a bag, same with candy, I vacuum packed them and yesterday was as tasty and crisp as the day I packed them... I am a big user of coupons and matching sales with them... I often get stuff for close to nothing but not all are able to do that... One thing I've learned thru the years of preparing is that one item isn't necessarily more important than another and each persons needs and desires are different... Buy ANYTHING you can, when you can... I even vacuum pack vitamins, meds and bullets  This prolongs the life of most foods by almost double... When I get a big bag of something, I break them up into smaller portions right away, label them with expiration dates, cooking instructions etc. with a write on permanent marker... Easy to store this way too in stackable bins... I've been away from the forum for awhile but glad to be back...


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## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

Throughout the years of storing foods I have kept this list gotten somewhere? :dunno:
10 FOODS TO STORE FIRST
1)wheat 2)salt 3)beans 4)tomatoes
5)produce (canned goods) 6)oil 7)pasta 8)peanut butter
9)dried milk 10)rice
10.1:laugh:chocolate, sugar, honey

I have all but wheat.


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

Get the more expensive multivitamins for long term storage, the cheaper ones have more moisture in them & so will ruin faster. We figured this out at work where we crush multivitamins to give through a tube. The more expensive ones crush perfectly in the pill crusher, the cheaper ones gum up because of all the moisture. 

Vitamins are available in other things like instant breakfasts & nestle quick, which have a dual purpose of making the powdered milk taste better.


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## ras1219como (Jan 15, 2013)

tsrwivey said:


> Get the more expensive multivitamins for long term storage, the cheaper ones have more moisture in them & so will ruin faster. We figured this out at work where we crush multivitamins to give through a tube. The more expensive ones crush perfectly in the pill crusher, the cheaper ones gum up because of all the moisture.
> 
> Vitamins are available in other things like instant breakfasts & nestle quick, which have a dual purpose of making the powdered milk taste better.


Beachbody makes a high potency and high quality vitamin. It's made for people that are in very high intensity work out programs (those that burn over 1,000 calories in a session). These multivitamins have higher concentrations of vitamins minerals and amino acids than any other multivitamin I've seen. They are also pricey but would be very useful in a shtf. I have about a years supply stored away.


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

You always see the advice to store wheat but most people have no clue what to do with wheat berries so how useful is storing it? I understand it's cheap & stores well but it's not so cheap when you factor in a grinder capable of making the flour most of us are used to using. Then you need other stuff to turn that flour into bread, most of which don't store as long as wheat. I have some #10 cans of it but not sure what I'd do with it other than sprout it or make cereal. :dunno: I don't hold much hope that my crew will like it so I'd probably have to sneak it in something. Glad I didn't base my food storage on it. We'll be eating pasta, rice, & taters instead.


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## Tacitus (Dec 30, 2012)

tsrwivey said:


> You always see the advice to store wheat but most people have no clue what to do with wheat berries so how useful is storing it? I understand it's cheap & stores well but it's not so cheap when you factor in a grinder capable of making the flour most of us are used to using. Then you need other stuff to turn that flour into bread, most of which don't store as long as wheat. I have some #10 cans of it but not sure what I'd do with it other than sprout it or make cereal. :dunno: I don't hold much hope that my crew will like it so I'd probably have to sneak it in something. Glad I didn't base my food storage on it. We'll be eating pasta, rice, & taters instead.


I hear you on this, and I've been upping my preps of pasta and rice because that is what we eat most. But I think that boiled wheat berries, cooled, with milk and honey, makes a great breakfast. All natural wheat cereal--tastes better than General Mills/Post cereals.

Also, wheat berries are my long term solution. If I am dipping into the wheat berries for family survival (as opposed to the occasional breakfast), then it means the end of the world as we know it, and eating won't be about enjoyment, it will be about survival. I have a picky child who pretty much refuses to eat anything but hotdogs and chicken nuggets and toaster waffles...I worry about him--his ability to go without eating is a concern, but I have to think that at some point his body will choose not to starve to death, and he might eat some wheat.


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

Tacitus said:


> I have a picky child who pretty much refuses to eat anything but hotdogs and chicken nuggets and toaster waffles...I worry about him--his ability to go without eating is a concern, but I have to think that at some point his body will choose not to starve to death, and he might eat some wheat.


A child *will* refuse food to a point of compromising their health, in a SHTF situation this could be a death sentence. We had a picky eater too so I understand the struggle but I would strongly recommend working through it now. It's really tough at first, but it does get better! Our picky eater just graduated high school yesterday & chose to eat at Texas Roadhouse instead of a burger joint! She wanted their salmon with a side of asparagus, not a nugget or French fry in site! Lol


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## Beaniemaster2 (May 22, 2012)

I think to survive is to live.... and who says we can't store goodies??? I have cake and brownie mixes (and a sun oven and a camp oven) Jello, puddings, cookies and candy... I've used brownie mixes that are 4yrs past expiration and bake just fine... But I haven't forgotten to store all that is needed too, powdered eggs, milk and cocoa... I think balance is the key... you may be able to live on wheat, rice and beans but who wants too??? Not me


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

Beaniemaster2 said:


> I think to survive is to live.... and who says we can't store goodies??? I have cake and brownie mixes (and a sun oven and a camp oven) Jello, puddings, cookies and candy... I've used brownie mixes that are 4yrs past expiration and bake just fine... But I haven't forgotten to store all that is needed too, powdered eggs, milk and cocoa... I think balance is the key... you may be able to live on wheat, rice and beans but who wants too??? Not me


I agree that living on wheat, rice, and beans may not be as wonderful as many other foods. My mother was a child of the depression. What did they eat for breakfast? They would buy wheat by the bushel, and pick out the little rocks. It was boiled for breakfast. A bushel of wheat fed a family of 7 children and 2 parents a month of breakfasts. Not the most appetizing, but better than starving which was really what they were on the brink of experiencing. They picked certain weeds for greens for food also.

Rice, is something that can be eaten for breakfast also, cooked, served as a cereal with some milk and cinnamon and sugar. I saw 25 # bags of rice at Costco for 9.99 this week. Not as glamorous as lots of boxed cereal, but much cheaper and easier to store. I thought about how for $100 you could have 250 pounds of rice. Think about how many meals that would create as opposed to how few meals you can make with prepackaged food.

My dad's family also lived through the depression. They took bean sandwiches for lunch at school. (wheat and beans)

I think of how much wheat, rice, and beans I can have for $100, and how little meat, chocolate, etc. I could have for the same price. That said, I do have more than wheat, rice and beans, but, these are the basics, they are cheaper, they have very long shelf lives, and can be dressed up in many ways with spices, condiments, and whatever else I can add. I also have oatmeal, milk and pastas in my basic long term storage.

A hand crank grain grinder can be purchased for $50 to $60. Electric ones are much more expensive, but could be shared with like minded people.


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## swjohnsey (Jan 21, 2013)

Simple foods can be very appetizing, beans and road kill! Haven't had a bean sandwich in years.


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## Beaniemaster2 (May 22, 2012)

Sorry, I thought the thread was about 'variety'  I have all the preps of wheat, rice, etc... Was just commenting that food storage really has no limitations... Like somebody said, stock what you eat! I just think it would be nice to have things for the kids that will give them a little comfort in those hard times... Yes, that stuff costs more but I don't pay that... I would get 'after' Holiday markdowns and put them up and yes I have processed stuff too, anything I can get cheap I do... Doesn't matter what it is, if it's cheap and I can pay for it I get it! And no I don't forget the shampoos, soaps and other non-edible stuff, if I can get something for 25cts, I get 4! Also nice to have extras to give to the kids and hardly ever having to pay full price for something cause I 'ran out'... My parents grew up in the Depression too and I have always been thankful that it's not that bad for us... I am proud of what I have accomplished and so are our kids and grandkids who will come here if SHTF... We will survive... Even if it's on Cheerios 

PS: This is one of the reasons I left the forums for awhile, people want to pick apart everything you say... Can't we just enjoy everyone's comments, take what we like, ignore what we don't and respect each other's views?


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## Tacitus (Dec 30, 2012)

Beaniemaster2 said:


> This is one of the reasons I left the forums for awhile, people want to pick apart everything you say... Can't we just enjoy everyone's comments, take what we like, ignore what we don't and respect each other's views?


We aren't talking politics or religion here. I don't think you should take any offense. I didn't take offense when you effectively criticized my approach of buying staples to sustain life before even thinking about the extras to make life interesting. I appreciated your comments. Made me wonder if I should think about cake & brownie mixes, usually the sole territory of my largely non-prepping wife.

Frankly, I enjoy when people disagree with me on something substantive. I may hear them and decide they have an excellent point and change or add to my viewpoint. I may hear them and decide I disagree, but decide further that no response is necessary--after all, who really cares if you win or lose an argument on an internet forum. I may hear their criticism (hopefully constructive criticism), and decide to provide some constructive counter-criticism. As long as discussion is civil, it is just a process of learning.

So, don't worry, keep posting!


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

Beaniemaster2 said:


> Sorry, I thought the thread was about 'variety'  I have all the preps of wheat, rice, etc... Was just commenting that food storage really has no limitations... Like somebody said, stock what you eat! I just think it would be nice to have things for the kids that will give them a little comfort in those hard times... Yes, that stuff costs more but I don't pay that... I would get 'after' Holiday markdowns and put them up and yes I have processed stuff too, anything I can get cheap I do... Doesn't matter what it is, if it's cheap and I can pay for it I get it! And no I don't forget the shampoos, soaps and other non-edible stuff, if I can get something for 25cts, I get 4! Also nice to have extras to give to the kids and hardly ever having to pay full price for something cause I 'ran out'... My parents grew up in the Depression too and I have always been thankful that it's not that bad for us... I am proud of what I have accomplished and so are our kids and grandkids who will come here if SHTF... We will survive... Even if it's on Cheerios
> 
> PS: This is one of the reasons I left the forums for awhile, people want to pick apart everything you say... Can't we just enjoy everyone's comments, take what we like, ignore what we don't and respect each other's views?


Please accept my apology. I am not trying to pick apart your comments. I am trying present a view, a perspective. I am sorry to have offended you. That was not my intention, but I can sure see why it sounded offensive to you. You were much more on subject than I was.

One of the most common things I read is about how people cannot afford preps. When I read that someone has a family of 6 and they have 2 or 3 weeks of food, I think "YIKES"! Some people only have a couple days worth. 
Double Yikes! There are some preps that are not expensive, but could buy these people time. For those folks that do not have a years worth of food, I say, "Buy a bag of rice, beans, or pasta every chance you get." I also think there can be lots of options of things to do with the basics.

Thanks for speaking up about being offended. I hope that this dialogue gets some people's attention and helps them to know that basics are as necessary as variety.


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## Beaniemaster2 (May 22, 2012)

Thank you for that but wasn't really offended as much as confused... Food storage has always been a huge subject in the forums because lets face it, it's overwhelming when you are first starting out but it doesn't have to be.. If we all had the money and everything we needed, I doubt we would be in here trying to help each other! When it comes to storage for SHTF, I just have the opinion that what's the difference??? We need everything so if it's cheap and you can pay for it, buy it unless you are saving for something you really need and every penny counts... It really adds up fast and eventually you even have variety 

I hate to see people without food storage too but learned long ago it is a choice.. I guess cause I see so many around me that don't have extras on hand but yet spend money on Iphones, going to movies, etc... Things we have chosen to sacrifice to get prepared but that is 'our' choice...

Getting way off the subject here, but McDonalds accepts EBT cards... I don't know why I found that offensive but I did.. Not because they are on food stamps but because they said they could feed their 5 kids at McDonalds cheaper then they can make a meal... Don't even try and tell me that!!! I know that 2 of them sells their food stamps for half of what they are worth so is what I am saying about choices... 

OH, definitely not looking to open a can of worms here or be critical, but I've tried to help but just stopped cause it did no good to tell them to buy an extra can, bag of rice etc. like you said and have tried to respect their choices, just always thinking about how the kids may suffer for it... Yikes indeed... 

PS: Very glad to be back, I learn something from someone everyday!!!


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## rawhide2971 (Apr 19, 2013)

I was caught up in this post and read through the thread and one aspect of the original question that made me think was what is my long term plan and what is my personal situation? My plan is to Bug in and Hunker down so I think logically that affects my "diversity" or what I will store and have stored and second to that is the makeup of those in my group. Since that group is 2 females adult, and two adult males and 3 adolescent males (10, 9, 4) I think I have to make up my food and other preps accordingly.
Paper goods are a given.
Female Hygiene – not nearly as important as 15 years ago thankfully.
Food:
Wheat: in #10 cans processed 30 cans not going to mess with having to have a grinder (got it from LDS over a period of a couple of years. Still buying a few as I go along and can afford it.
Rice: Probably have 200 pounds in a variety of vacuum packed 5 gallon buckets and vacuum packed containers.
Beans, pasta, vegetables, etc. both in freeze dried and in cans ready to eat, I keep adding to this and rotate as needed.
Salt and Sugar, it don’t go bad and I don’t have near enough despite what the wife says. (she still thinks all is well in the world)
Honey – Friend has a number of hives and I get it from him, need more, can’t have to much.
Spices, a good variety.
Peanut butter, more than I should have but I worry about it going bad so I keep plenty but rotate it often, boys eat it and so do I, wish I could keep more but the long term storage stuff is pricey.
Hard candy….I vacuum pack it, if things go bad the boys will need some treats. I need to invest in more, when Halloween comes around I usually pick some up afterwards and try and keep it hidden.
I am always looking for a deal on any of the Emergency preparedness sites. I have a BJS membership and they seem to have the best prices on freeze dried products from Emergency essentials because they include the shipping costs. 
But I think the point here for this thread was the diversity. I try and store what we will eat, I admit I throw in some stuff that may not be what the family is use to but the boys will eat when necessary, SPAM may be a shock to them but fried up they will eat it.
Canned meats and fish are long term: Ham, Spam, Tuna, Chicken, Mackerel, and Salmon. I don’t care about the salt and perservatives stuff (in the canned meat and fish etc.), in a true SHTF situation its more about filling the belly and getting the calories.

And some really good points have been made on here about vitamines and also about you dont have to rush out and buy everything at onces, a little bit at a time will add up.

For most people I think the biggest issue is space. I know that paper goods take up a heck of a lot of room. I just recently got a deal on some new heavey duty shevles and reoroganized and broke my storage area into two seperate "hides" and was kind of slapped in the face by my own ignorance of how much space all that toilet paper I had been putting away took up. I am not complaing, I never take TP for granted......some things you just dont want to run out of. 

Good thread and good post ladies and gents.


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## Beaniemaster2 (May 22, 2012)

Hey rawhide2971... You had a great post but I'm just a little confused... Do you not plan to make any bread with those cans of wheat??? LDS is an exceptional place to buy stuff, so reasonable, I sure wish they would expand their inventory!!! PS: Your peanut butter will last a lot longer too if you vacuum pack it too... Also, have you read any of the threads on alternatives for TP and who is BJS???


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## Reblazed (Nov 11, 2010)

Beaniemaster2 said:


> PS: Your peanut butter will last a lot longer too if you vacuum pack it too...


How would you do this? Plastic jar in a foodsaver bag? Does it help the shelf life ?


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## rawhide2971 (Apr 19, 2013)

Beaniemaster2 You are a very astute person and I must confess that you have done something that very few people have done in the recent past, , you have caught me in a mistake, sigh, it does not happen often but in this case it has and there is no denying it, sigh, I, in my arrogance to appear superior wrote that I had wheat in #10 cans, the reality is that I have FLOUR, as we all know that a very big difference....sniff sniff, I hope I can be forgiven for this show of arrogance and forgiven in the world of prepping.
Now on to other things, yes the LDS site is great but I agree that the shopping list is limited. I have not really tried to do the vacuum sealing on the Peanut butter but its a good thought. we buy the large plastic jar in the twin pack from BJS. BJS is a wholesale club similar to SAMS and Costco but not nearly as wide spread. The BJ is Berkley and Jensens. Pretty much a East coast chain. They have just about the same stuff as the other two warehouse clubs but we find that they package more for the family unit rather than the reseller and the selection seems more family friendly.


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## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

The reason I have such a variety is after I started storing food over 4 years ago, I started in the morning listing what I used..yes, on some days, the list was long..others, not so much.
When shopping for those foods I needed to stock, I bought lots, as far as my budget would go then; next shopping spree, finish the list and those things added.
What this did was supply me with only what I eat in this house--so well, I don't ever need to go to the grocery.
As I make my own cornbread, biscuits for bread, and milk comes from the freezer bought several gallons at once or use Gossner's, I have no need for the grocery stores.

What else is there to go to the store for?? Tomorrow, I make pound cake for the strawberries gotten from the man across the road that sells produce all summer.
I wish when I started storing food I had used this method--list what you eat, what it takes to make a meal, stock that one week and move on to the next week.


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## Tacitus (Dec 30, 2012)

I try for 400 pounds of grain per adult per year...OK, I can't really store that much--I have a lot of mouths to feed. But I am trying for a few months of that, and then I will increase that by a month at a time as my situation allows.

My current goals are a percentage of the following "per adult, per year" numbers (I tweak these goals all the time):


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## Beaniemaster2 (May 22, 2012)

Reblazed said:


> How would you do this? Plastic jar in a foodsaver bag? Does it help the shelf life ?


The ideal way is to get the Peanut Butter out of the plastic jar and into a glass mason jar and use the jar sealer... The plastic jar is what makes it go rancid much faster but keep it as cool as possible and out of light like most everything we store is recommended... Anything in plastic or like Crisco cans is best repackaged for long term storage... Glass repackaging extends the life of just about everything... Or vacuum packing...

If you don't have a jar sealer attachment (which I highly recommend), you could just try and pack it as tight as you can being sure the seal area is clean of course...


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## rawhide2971 (Apr 19, 2013)

*I have been thinking about this for quite a while*



Beaniemaster2 said:


> The ideal way is to get the Peanut Butter out of the plastic jar and into a glass mason jar and use the jar sealer... The plastic jar is what makes it go rancid much faster but keep it as cool as possible and out of light like most everything we store is recommended... Anything in plastic or like Crisco cans is best repackaged for long term storage... Glass repackaging extends the life of just about everything... Or vacuum packing...
> 
> If you don't have a jar sealer attachment (which I highly recommend), you could just try and pack it as tight as you can being sure the seal area is clean of course...


I think repacking the peanut butter into a glass jar is just a pain so I been thinking about it and last night was piddeling around and got out my vacumn sealer and one of my larger bag rolls and made a bag that would fit the jar and then vacumn sealed the whole jar of peanut butter. It made a nice tight seal and since the whole theory of the vacumn packing is to seal out the air it should provide the extra layer of protection needed to extend the shelf life of the Peanut butter. Anyway thats my plan. I wrote the date on the outside of course and have put the sealed jar away on a lower back shelf away from light and where it should stay cool down in my "prepper" area and plan on checking on it in a year or two. In the mean time I am going to keep on putting up a couple of Jars a month away and hopefully it wont be a bad investment. In this particular case TIME REALLY WILL TELL:laugh:


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## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

Don't forget--those Peanut butter lids fit the mason jars.
After opening a canned jar and putting in the fridge, use a pb lid--neater.


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