Short-Term Storage: Step 3

Make a Shopping List



How much food do you need for 3 months (or however long you decide)?  Make a list of what you'll need.  If you'd like to use my free food storage list/shopping organizer, click here.   It's simple, and can take away some of the headache.  (note:  to see my organizer for purchasing long-term food storage, I'll be posting that shortly)

How?  Let's assume I have these meals twice a month (obviously I'll need more recipes, but remember, this is just to get started).  To have enough for 3 months I'll need to multiply each ingredient by 6.  My shopping list will look like this:


Amy's 3-month Dinner Shopping List
24 cans tomato sauce (or 6 cups tomato powder)
6 cans diced tomatoes
7 1/2 C FD Beef
3 Cups Broccoli
6 cans Ckn Broth (6-8 tsp bouillon)
6 Cups Inst. Black Beans
12 cans corn (or 12 cups FD corn)
15 Cups FD Chicken
6 Cups instant red beans
3 lb Macaroni
12 Cups diced potatoes
6 C FD Sausage
4.5 pkg penne noodles
12 Cups mozz. cheese
6 pkg. frozen pie crusts (2-per pkg)
6 cans Crm-potato soup
6 cans mixed veggies

Decide what purchasing method works best for you -- I recommend choosing items as they come on sale then purchasing the entire amount of that ingredient.  But do what's best for you and your budget.  If you have any specific items that you would like to order from me, please view a complete list of products at: myfamilythrives.shelfreliance.com  There are always specials going on, so be sure and check the sales tab above or ask me for more information.

Ingredients List

How's everyone doing on their list of ingredients for meals?  If 5 is too many, pick one.  Just do it!  Write down the ingredients to your favorite breakfast or dinner recipe.  Be sure to pick one that uses canned, dry or frozen foods.  If you're really struggling with a recipe, feel free to use mine below.

My Favorite Mexican Soup:
1 can black beans
1 can corn
1 can cooked chicken
1 can chicken broth
1 can tomato sauce
1 can tomato dices
Salt & Pepper to taste
1/2 tsp Chili Powder (or more)
dash of cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp Garlic
1/8 tsp Cumin

Combine in a pot and heat until warm (crock pot for a few hours).

Step 3 will be posted on Monday.

Short-Term Storage: Step 2

Using your list of meals, write down the ingredients for each recipe.  Do this for the entire list, or only pick a few meals out of the day. 

Here's mine.  Notice the recipes are simple and made from shelf- or frozen- food that will stay good for at least a year.  In fact, all of the recipes can even be made ahead of time and frozen.*


DINNER

• Spaghetti:  1 lb. spag. noodles, 1 can tomato sauce, 1 can diced tomatoes, 3/4 C **FD beef, 1/2 C FD broccoli, seasonings.
• Mexican Soup:  1 can chicken broth, 1 C instant black beans, 1 can tomato sauce, 1 can corn, 1-1/2 C diced FD chicken, spices.
• Minestrone Soup:  1 C instant red beans, 1/2-lb mac. noodles, 2 C potato dices, 1 C FD sausage, 1 can tomato sauce, spices.
• Penne Casserole:  3/4 pkg penne noodles, 1 can tomato sauce, 2 C mozzarella cheese, 1/2 C FD gr. beef; seasonings
• Chicken Pot Pie:  2 frozen pie crusts, 1 can cream-potato soup, 1 can mixed veggies, 1 C FD chicken, 1 can corn, seasonings.

Click here to see Step 1

*note:  when freezing pre-made meals, do not cook noodles, potatoes, or pie crust ahead of time.  They'll be soggy when thawed and re-heated.  I'll spend more time on freezer meals another day.

**FD = freeze-dried.  The benefit of this over frozen is that you don't have to cook it and it doesn't get that awful freezer burn flavor.  Plus it has a 25-yr unopened shelf-life and doesn't take up freezer space.

Short-Term Storage: Step 1

If you couldn't go to the grocery store for a few days, a few weeks, or a few months, what would you need in your pantry to eat the foods you use on a regular basis?  THIS is SHORT-TERM STORAGE.

Step 1:
(this should only take 3 minutes).  List the foods you eat regularly for each meal of the day.  Keep the list small.  Even if you can only think of one or two each, that's a great start.

Here are some of mine for an example:

BREAKFAST:

• pancakes
• oatmeal
• cereal
• scrambled eggs/sausage/hashbrowns
• french toast

LUNCH

• Grilled cheese sandwich
• Quesadillas
• PB & J
• Chicken Nuggets
• Nachos

DINNER

• Spaghetti
• Mexican Soup
• Minestrone Soup
• Penne Casserole
• Chicken Pot Pie 

(If you want to get ahead, write down the ingredients needed for several recipes)

Baby Steps!

Let's face it.  We all have good intentions of getting prepared for emergencies and starting -- or finishing -- our food storage.  But when it comes down to it, life gets in the way and we get side-tracked.  Others might feel overwhelmed by the task and not know where to start entirely.

For those who need that little nudge and some guidance, I'll be posting a monthly goal with weekly "to-do" lists to complete it.  They will be SHORT and EASY.  And I'll be doing them with you.

This is in preparation for National Preparedness Month in September where I'm going to have some really fun and exciting activities for you and your family to participate in to put your preparedness skills to the test! (Did I mention, fun?)

Here's the schedule for the next 3 months: 

• July:  Short-term food storage 

• August:  Emergency Kits 

• September:  How well would you do in an emergency?

Be sure to "like" the facebook page on the right for quick and easy updates

What's in YOUR PANTRY?

A few years ago, the Washington D.C. metro area was haunted by a man who was driving from town to town killing people at random.  These innocent victims were just doing the everyday things like filling up their cars at gas stations, waiting for the bus, coming out of the store from shopping at Wal-mart and Home Depot.

With 9-11 still fresh in their minds, the panic that plagued the people in this area was surreal.  I know, because I lived there.  My husband had filled up his car at the same gas station that someone had been shot and killed the very next day.  It was as if people were being hunted.  No one knew when or where this person would hit next.  News reporters began giving lessons on how to avoid sniper attack.  In public, people were always looking over their shoulders, hiding next to the gas pumps "just in case", walking in zig-zag, indirect lines to their car in the parking lot.

Eventually, many people stayed home entirely just to avoid the possibility that they could be the next victim.  No one wanted to admit it, but there was a lot of panic going on.  During that time, I too wouldn't go anywhere unless I absolutely HAD to.  This included the grocery store -- thankfully, we had a good enough supply of food in our pantry that this wasn't really an issue for us.

It occurred to me, that we never can fully predict what will keep us from having access to food.  It might be as simple as an illness or a car needing to be repaired that would keep you home for a few days.  But when emergencies come up that prevent you from buying food at the store for weeks (weather, electricity, transportation strike or other food shortages to name a few), it's ALWAYS wise to have several meals on the shelf that could be made without a trip to the store.  In fact, the recommendation is to have about 3 months' "regular" food (that you typically eat, canned or packaged) available at any time.