~ Food Storage: Achieving your Goals~
Many of you have already started your food storage. You already have a plan, you’ve already made progress…Here are some important points I’d like to make to help you fine tune what you may already be doing.
1) Tracking your food storage. This helps you know how much you have of each item in your food storage, what you’ve used and what you need to buy. A good tracking plan goes hand in hand with rotation.
2) Rotation is the key for a successful food storage plan. Label your containers with the date you purchased it. Learn to cook with the items you store, it makes rotation easy. Rotate as many items as you can by using your food storage at least twice a week. This will allow complete rotation of a years supply about every three to four years and will help your family become accustomed to the items you have stored.
3) Store foods properly. Try to keep a minimum exposure to light, heat, moisture and air. The shelf life can be greatly diminished if foods are not stored properly.
4) Grow a garden so you can have fresh produce.
5) Don’t forget about non-food items. Have an extra supply of vitamins, medications, diapers, toiletries etc...
6) Variety. Adding variety to the items you store will help give you more options as you use your food storage. Psychological foods. Psychological foods are the goodies—Jello, pudding, candy, etc. - These may sound frivolous, but if you needed to live on your storage for an extended amount of time, these items would help normalize the situation. These are especially important if you have children.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Help! Where do I even start?
~Getting started with Food Storage~
When creating your food storage plan 3 things to consider are: space, cost and the food your family eats. Here are two examples of starting with basics:
1) Start with one week of food on hand—food you regularly eat; and plan a family menu for the week
2) Experiment with basic foods that can be easily stored—keep recipes your family likes so you can cook meals from stored items. Using those recipes you can more easily plan meals using your stored foods.
3) Learn the basics of food storage. Doing so will save you time, money and effort. www.providentliving.org or www.ready.gov are good websites to review.
4) Have a family meeting including all children and make an oral commitment to do food storage.
5) Inventory food on hand including perishables.
6) Rotate the stored foods using a carefully thought out plan.
7) Plan on storing 7 gallons of water per person for a one week supply.
A three month supply of food should mainly consist of the food you routinely eat as a family. Here’s another example of how to get started:
1) Make a list of foods you eat on a regular basis, and determine how much you would go through in three months.
2) Gradually purchase these foods in bulk as they go on sale
3) It’s important to use and rotate these foods in all your daily cooking.
4) Constantly replenish the stocks of these foods as they go on sale again. Food storage becomes more manageable when you break it down into individual steps. Remember, even if your budget allows just buying an extra can or two of vegetables each shopping trip, you are working towards your goal
When creating your food storage plan 3 things to consider are: space, cost and the food your family eats. Here are two examples of starting with basics:
1) Start with one week of food on hand—food you regularly eat; and plan a family menu for the week
2) Experiment with basic foods that can be easily stored—keep recipes your family likes so you can cook meals from stored items. Using those recipes you can more easily plan meals using your stored foods.
3) Learn the basics of food storage. Doing so will save you time, money and effort. www.providentliving.org or www.ready.gov are good websites to review.
4) Have a family meeting including all children and make an oral commitment to do food storage.
5) Inventory food on hand including perishables.
6) Rotate the stored foods using a carefully thought out plan.
7) Plan on storing 7 gallons of water per person for a one week supply.
A three month supply of food should mainly consist of the food you routinely eat as a family. Here’s another example of how to get started:
1) Make a list of foods you eat on a regular basis, and determine how much you would go through in three months.
2) Gradually purchase these foods in bulk as they go on sale
3) It’s important to use and rotate these foods in all your daily cooking.
4) Constantly replenish the stocks of these foods as they go on sale again. Food storage becomes more manageable when you break it down into individual steps. Remember, even if your budget allows just buying an extra can or two of vegetables each shopping trip, you are working towards your goal
