Food Storage made simple, or at least simpler - food storage analyzer review

Food storage for emergencies can be overwhelming to the beginner.  I know because I was once a beginner myself.  But I didn't start emergency food storage overnight or because of some fearful prediction like the Mayan 2012 thing.  It all started for me after 9/11.  My husbands job hit a brick wall and we were bringing in little money.  I took a night job and had to go to the local food bank because we were so strapped.  After that fun experience I vowed to never again have to beg for food. 

The nature of my husbands job is unfortunately rather unpredictable so I fell into stocking up on foods when there were great sales and always keeping at least a months worth at home.  After we moved to Wyoming this food storage idea  became even more important in the winter when blizzards cut me off from the grocery store that was a 15 mile trip into town.  I learned to bake my own bread out of necessity and kept probably 2 months of foods in our root cellar.

As the economic outlook looks worse and worse and the drums of war are beating louder and louder many people are looking at ways to safeguard their families through hard times.  Hey our grandparents did it so why shouldn't we? Food and water is our most basic necessity so having a good stock of foods you eat is not only common sense but wise too.  Last years inflation of food was 30% and this years is estimated to go up by at least that much.  So by stocking non perishable foods you know you will use you are saving money in the long run.  We have saved quite a bit this way.

I wont make this a long post because food storage doesn't have to be complicated or hard.  Just follow these few rules and you'll do fine.

1.  Most important!  Store what you eat and eat what you store.  Do not buy foods you have never eaten or don't like just because some prepper "expert" recommends it.  It's OK to broaden our horizons food wise but not in an emergency.  You want stuff you know how to prepare and know you will eat without gagging.  Also you want to stock food you will actually eat because you will need to cycle the food in and out occasionally.

2.  Buy on sale a little at a time.  If you have the money to spend on a deluxe dehydrated food package go ahead but for those of us on a budget buying a little at a time is the most realistic.  When something goes on a great sale I stock up not only for my normal use but for my emergency store as well.

3.  Buy in bulk.  Bulk is so much cheaper for things like flour, rice, beans, sugar that it make sense to buy the 50 lb bag rather than the 5 lb one.

4.  Start with a plan.  Not everyone wants a full years supply of food but what about a month?  Or three months?  You would be surprised at how easy it is to store that much food.

Now that you've got the basics down maybe you want to plan how much you need for a real SHTF emergency.  This doesn't mean the world ending kind of thing, but what about job loss or illness?  So here is a nifty food storage calculator I found.  It's the best I've found because it lets you put in grocery store items as well as the freeze dried canned stuff.  It's a good guide on what your going to need.


<center><a href="http://preparednesspantry.blogspot.com/2009/10/food-storage-analyzer-gift-card.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Gift Card Giveaway" src="http://beprepared.com/images/art/giftcardbanner40.png%22/%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/center>

A Great Idea For Organizing Stored Canned Food

8I found this and now I am really wanting to get one.  One of the biggest problems for us is cycling our stored food so nothing goes bad.  This idea instantly takes care of that problem.  I love it!  Remember when storing food for emergencies- Store what you eat, eat what you store!  If you have the space like we do for lots of shelves and canned foods they can be your best buy.  The company that makes these is actually geared towards emergency food storage which I find very interesting.  Here's a link to their site. 

http://www.pantrymaid.com/index.html

Source: google.com via Kristina on Pinterest

Getting up our apple supply for winter

Every fall I buy about 175 lbs of apples to get us through the winter for fresh eating, apple pies (I personally don't like apple pie but make it for Husband because he loves them) , fried apples, and applesauce.  I buy directly from the growers and this year found a great deal on Brayburns and Fuji's at 30 cents a pound.  Way cheaper than the dollar or more I'm paying at the store.  Both the apple varieties I chose are excellent keepers so as long as I keep them cool they should last well into next spring.

As to why I do it?  First is because we love apples and my five apple trees haven't started bearing yet. And well hey after all I live in Washington state right?  The apple state. Buying in bulk is cheaper than at the store, might as well take advantage of it.  There are in fact many orchards here in Washington of different fruits, so in season you can find fabulous deals on cherries, peaches, plums, and apricots as well as apples.  It is still however cheaper to grow your own which is why I currently have my five apple trees, two peach trees and a passel of assorted berry's growing.  My goal has always been to grow all my own fruit and veggies, but it is a goal that takes time.

The place I store them is in the unheated back enclosed porch which keeps them extremely cold without freezing them.  This worked out well last year even when temperatures dipped down below zero.

Having a cold room is definitely helpful when it comes to storing produce from the garden that requires cold and slightly humid conditions to keep.  People mostly would use a root cellar or unheated basement.  I have the basement but it stays just a little to warm and way to dry to properly store apples.  It is much more suited to storing onions.  Someday I'm going to build nice looking wooden boxes for storing my apples, carrots, and other root crops in the back porch.  For now though they are simply stored in cardboard boxes with a layer of newspaper on top to keep off dust and keep them a little more humid.  Worked fine last year.