Let’s be real. With gas prices going up, baby food shortages, and natural disasters on the rise, food storage has been first and foremost on my mind, and I’m sure it’s on your minds too.
My friends and family have been asking me what I’m stocking because I’m very health conscious. It’s been quite a process this year to re-think my fresh food/shop-the-perimeter mentality, to, what foods do I want in my prep kitchen?
Even more, what foods have a long shelf life? The best storage-building method I’ve found is to buy a little extra of every shelf stable item I already love and eat the oldest expiration date item first when buying more. My emergency stockpile is accumulating slowly but surely!
You could just buy a 3 month supply of emergency food if you just want to add water to your food, but I like to control my nutrition sources and ingredients and am willing to do a little prep work to keep my health. If you don’t have a grill or way to cook your food, those emergency food pre-made meals may be the way to go. We bought a portable generator so we have refrigeration no matter what as well. I know those camper stoves can really come in handy as well.
Here are the top foods I’m storing (and how!):
1. Eggs
Eggs are expected to rise in price exponentially (as much as 20%) this year. And I have concerns that they’ll even make it to market with the avian flu, fires, and gas prices for truck drivers. Eggs are a great source of protein and I don’t want to stop eating them even if prices go up to $12 a dozen or aren’t available.
That said, if you buy unwashed (very important they aren’t washed because it makes them porous and takes off the protective bloom) eggs at the farmer’s market this summer, you can preserve eggs using a process called ‘water glassing.’
I’ve learned that if you add 1 ounce (use a kitchen scale) of pickling lime (calcium hydroxide) to approx 1 quart (or liter) of water, you can add your UNWASHED, clean eggs to keep for over a year (this means store bought eggs won’t work). Chickens don’t naturally lay eggs in the winter, so this is a summer project.
If you don’t have access to a farmer’s market, another option is buying powdered eggs. If you’re like me and use eggs daily, this is a staple worth stocking up. Handy when you don’t have time or want to create your own mixes too.
2. Wheat Berries
Did you know ground flour is considered a ‘dead’ food? If you freshly grind your wheat you’ll always have nutrition, it’ll last way longer in your emergency storage, and making bread only takes 2 ingredients: flour and water. Personally, I like Be Still Farms Wheat Berries, but if you are looking for a 25 lb bag, get this one. If you aren’t confident in your bread-making skills, I would keep around some yeast too to get started. Also, unless you have a Vitamix with a dry container, you will want a hand crank (you can also eat the berries whole like oatmeal or risotto rice).
3. Rice
Buying rice at Costco is a game changer because you can buy it in a 25 pound bag. If properly stored, this will last 20-30 years. It’s also 175 servings, so it’s a very easy emergency food to have on hand. My preference is Thai rice because it’s known for lower arsenic content.
4. Beans
Growing up in California, where Mexican food is plentiful, I’ve learned to eat rice and beans together. Though it’s debatable whether it is actually a complete protein when eaten together (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-protein-combining-myth/), it’s definitely tasty when combined. It’s also super tasty to have a variety for soups and chili.
5. Nut Butter
For my husband that means peanut butter, but that’s been hard to find lately! Sad to say our supply chain has been shaky enough that even one interruption has been having dire effects. I keep extra cashew butter jars around because it makes excellent non-dairy cheese sauces like queso and alfredo, butter, and even ice cream. Really versatile (though expensive) butter. Almond butter is nice as well, but with nut prices going up, I would pick cashew butter for the versatility.
6. Salt
Something you may not have thought of is how important salt can be as an emergency food. It can keep your cheese from molding, keep your meat from going bad even at room temperature, and even control infection. I like Redmond’s Real Salt and buy it in bulk.
5. Vinegar
Apple Cider Vinegar and White Vinegar are extremely useful for so many things from gut health, to salad dressings, to making broth, to cleaning and sanitizing.
6. Broth
Long term storage an be a challenge, so it might be good to have powdered broth on hand. You can even pre-mix soup mixes for every day using powdered broth. I store both the powder and the broth cartons since I like having it as a source of water. I typically buy this frozen one for my regular preference.
7. Ghee
Unlike butter, ghee is great since you can store it in a cool dry place and it will last for long periods of time. If you buy grass-fed animal products you’ll also have higher omega 3 content.
8. Powdered Milk
This is one of those perishable food choices that everyone uses but doesn’t think about. I like macadamia milk and full fat coconut milk. My husband likes regular milk. Rather than taking up a lot of space with already hydrated milk, I’ve opted for the dehydrated variety. I like this powdered milk because it supposedly tastes good enough to drink or put on cereal (it’s in our supply but I haven’t personally tried it yet)
9. Pasta Sauce or Canned tomatoes
Great for chili, salsas, pasta, and more. When you have flour, you can make your own pasta by rolling it out with water/salt and cutting it into strips. Boil it for a couple minutes and you’ve got pasta! Since I don’t currently eat tomatoes or tomato sauce, I have tomato sauce for my husband, a basil plant, and a couple jars of pesto for me instead.
10. Fruits
For me this means my favorite dried fruits, canned pineapple, jam, and juices. I like having powdered lemon/lime in the house for adding flavor to anything. I also have baby food because I can make banana bread with it.
11. Vegetables
Shelf stable pickles, cabbage, and any other canned food I can get my hands on so I never get bored. I usually buy a lot of this at farmers markets. Also, I love to have as many freeze-dried vegetables as I can afford. My favorite freeze-dried foods are peas and broccoli. I also tend to keep canned pumpkin and sweet potatoes on hand in baby food form since I like the small glass containers.
12. Sprouts
Freeze-dried veggies may be harder foods to stockpile, but sprouts are easy! You just fill up a mason jar with water and store them in a dark place. Change out the water daily. Perfect emergency preparedness food since seeds don’t take up much space and are loaded with nutrients.
13. Tuna (or any canned meat)
I’ve been buying the pregnancy safe tuna called ‘safe catch.’ I was skeptical on whether or not safe catch was actually tested, but my joints ache when I eat fish. My joints ache much less with this canned tuna so, I’m trusting it has less mercury. I like this because it has omega 3.
If you have a garden, canned meat is great over a salad, as a sandwich, and more.
14. Vitamins
I have a bag of spirulina in my storage at all times because it’s basically a vitamin with a complete amino acid profile, but you could have whatever vitamin you want for this. I’ve never been a huge fan of vitamins because it feel like an excuse to not eat your green. My attitude has been changing rapidly since realizing that we just don’t have the same nutrition in our food that we used to. I guarantee even if you rotate your foods regularly, you are missing something just because our soil lacks the nutrients it had before commercialization.
15. Water
While water may not be a food, it is necessary for making half of my emergency food recipes, so storing water and other water-content foods is extremely important.
Hope this list helps you all be prepared for whatever comes our way.
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