Food Storage/Emergency Preparedness

[5ft Diva]

Okay, I'm feeling overwhelmed with my lack of food storage, water storage, and emergency supply kits. The only way I can really do this so I don't feel overwhelmed is a little bit at a time and rotating my focus on the different areas of storage a little bit at a time.

I'm wondering if I'm out to lunch with this idea and what your methods are to acquiring a well rounded food/water supply for up to a year.

[Big_Sissy]

How about you do the best you can for the time being, and in the next month or 2 I spring some extra $$ your way just for this purpose. I can't just yet, but I can down the road.

[5ft Diva]

Sounds good. I'm still wondering about ideas though. I'm amazed at what I learn through other's experiences.

[Big_Sissy]

That's true.

[Dia Minha]

Taking it slow and learning a bit at a time is really always the best way to approach anything.

The way I have been working it is starting with my 72 hour kits. I put one together and almost completed it. I started with the most important items. Water, food, and blankets. We went through it recently and discovered several food and water items had expired. So, we ate what we could. Not only did we discovered that we didn't have what we needed to prepare the items we had, but the kids didn't even like it. So we used a family home evening and talked about what items we liked and what items we didn't and constructed a list of what we wanted to change. Now I am slowly working on finding those items on sale and restocking. We also discovered that we can change our container system a little now the kids are getting older. We had been putting everything in one big storage container on wheels, because I am always in fear I will need to haul it and a toddler and a baby and the older kids would need to be in charge of the storage unit. We had them practice moving it about to make sure it wasn't to heavy. Now that they are all getting older, I think the two oldest could carry their own packs and the two middle could manage the bigger container on wheels and that would leave me with a pack and the baby.

On a side note, just because I found it rather interesting and quite funny. My children call our 72 hour kits, "That box of stuff we need when Jesus comes again". I don't even know where they picked this up, but in a way it is so reaffirming to me of the importance and the need to fulfill this commandment.

On the actual food storage part. I have started with a few of the basic items I already use. Such as, oats, rice, beans, flour, sugar, oil, dried potatoes, canned veggies and fruits. These I have worked on and still continue to work on finding the best way to store and rotate and restock. I recently added wheat and was working on using it more and working it into the storage and rotating system. However, I started that and then discovered that my five year old has a big chance of developing a high intolerance, or allergy as it may be, to wheat if eaten every day. So now I am working on the process of rotating it, along with soy and eggs on a four day cycle. That has got me pretty much tied up right now. I'm finding myself now looking for ways to advoid wheat, since it is everywhere and have come to a complete hault in my food storage plans. Although I need to look at it has a moment to recollect my thoughts and restock all the other items I have let run low. So it's a good thing.

Dia

[5ft Diva]

That is hilarious about what your kids call 72 hour kits.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts - they were so helpful! Do you have an effective method for keeping inventory of what you've got? That's what I think my main problem is.

[Dia Minha]

Originally Posted by 5ft Diva

That is hilarious about what your kids call 72 hour kits.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts - they were so helpful! Do you have an effective method for keeping inventory of what you've got? That's what I think my main problem is.

No I don't. I only have about a three month supply of the basics I listed. It is really easy to keep track of, because it just all fits into one small space, my so called pantry.

And that is one thing I forgot to mention. I think it would be very hard to start out stocking an entire year supply of anything. Even if it is just one item. The church website reccommends starting out with a three month supply. This works well for me, because I use a lot of items that shouldn't be stored for a long time or should be stored in the freezer, like brown rice and olive oil, and I don't have a lot of freezer space. So right now I'm working on completing a well rounded three month supply of all the basics I use, and at the same time trying to introduce the basics I don't. Then I will move up to six months, then nine and a year. This way I can work shelving and a storage freezer into my budget. Then after that I can start adding all the little extras.

Dia

[5ft Diva]

This is definitely a good idea. My budget will appreciate it.

[missypoohsticks]

Something I do that increases storage and also saves $$$ on the grocery bill is buy in multiples. For example, if something that I use often is on sale 4/$1.00, buy four, even if you only need one, then the extra 3 go into storage. Also, the Albertsons sales, like 5/$10 or the boxtop sales, awesome way to build storage.

[5ft Diva]

That's good advice, MPS. The thing I struggle w/ is knowing that the sale is a good sale. I just tend to notice how much money it's going to cost me to purchase all of what I want to get and it outweights the money I will save later on. I've got to get that mentality out of my head, so I really appreciate you sharing this thought.

[Dia Minha]

I thought this might help. [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

There is a lot more stuff on this site. You might be amazed if you play around a little.

Dia

[5ft Diva]

Thanks, Dia.

[Erudite]

We did our 72 Hour kit rotation this week, but I'm behind in doing it by about 6 weeks. Since we put them together two years ago, we always have done them on the daylight savings switch. Some of the food in the kit expires in 6 months so it has to be rotated and I change out winter clothes for summer clothes in the Spring and summer clothes for winter clothes in the fall. That way I also know I have clothes that fit and match the season in the 72 hour kit.

Then I keep an inventory in the kit itself so I know what's in them. It's divided up by when it has to be switched out. Some things every 6 months and some things once a year. And then the list of other stuff (TP, plastic dishes, etc.) That helps me to make sure everything is there that needs to be there.

I (hopefully not foolishly) keep the kits in big bins that really aren't that portable. I'm going to assume the use of my car in an emergency. We also keep water with the bins that would have to be moved to the car as well.

As for food, I just rolled my eyes when I saw some of the stuff that people were expecting kids to eat over 72 hours. My kids aren't going to be miserable AND hungry if we have to be out of our house for 3 days, because I planned stuff they could enjoy. What I did is make up a complete menu of stuff that doesn't go bad for 6 months (the modern age is great for preservatives, ey?), and then I packed all of that. The one clincher...we need to have our baby cooler and the freezer packs with us so that we can keep mayonaisse cool. So, I have another list with my inventory list of stuff to take if there's time to take it. Fresh fruit, bread...that kind of thing.

I haven't ever tried to live off of it all for 3 days, but I think we'd be in pretty good shape if we had to.

Anyway, that's how I do the 72 hour kits.

[Dia Minha]

Erudite,

Just for suggestions, you could use the little mayo packages that you can get at some deli's. That way you could just store them right in your bins, instead of having to pack a cooler. You could also pack dried fruit and again not have to worry about grabbing fresh fruit. Anyway, just thought I would share, because it came to me while reading.

Also I don't know what you plan to use your mayo for, but they have these really cool chicken and tuna salad kits now. I actually added them instead of noodles in a cup to my kits last rotation. They come with a few crackers, but when we tried them before we packed them we decided we could use a few more and of whole grain variety so we packed a box of triscuits as well.

I also got some other ideas of what I need to do while reading, so thanks for sharing.

Dia

[Erudite]

Yeah, the little packets are a good idea, I just can't seem to find a source for them and they never have an expiration date on them. When I do find them, I keep them, but forget to get them into my 72 hour kit. We keep dried fruit and canned fruit in the 72 hour kit, but you know fresh is always better and if you can grab it...

I didn't know about the kits though, that's a great idea! I never think to look for stuff like that because I'm just sure it'll not be as good for you as stuff I put together and that it'll be terribly expensive. But for a 6 month rotation thing, it's probably a great idea. The mayo is for tuna, chicken, and ham salad on crackers. Triscuits are a great suggestion though. I was just using regular saltines because that's what I had on hand the first time I did my kits.