Stocking your home with food storage and emergency items can quickly cause feelings of overwhelm! How prepared are you for an emergency? Today I am sharing baby-step food storage preparedness ideas so you have some options to help you get started.
Between food shortages and inflation, the pandemic and other unexpected life trials, having a plan for preparedness will help build your confidence and bring peace of mind.
My mom and I love to talk about preparedness solutions. She helped me come up with a great list of things to think about if the power was to be out for several days, as well as things we could cook if we weren’t able to get food from the grocery stores.
I felt her list was very valuable and really offered a lot of thought starters to get the wheels spinning on how to take care of ourselves and families in case of emergency.
In cased you missed the first post on preparedness, be sure to check it out here and pin to save for later!
Easy solutions for getting started with food storage:
The first thing I want to talk about today is stockpiling staples you and your family actually eat, and items that will allow you to make a meal with a few basics. Here is a list of the items I am working on adding to my storage as they are shelf-stable and don’t require much work to prepare.
- Jasmine Rice
- Tuna (luckily my kids love tuna! Tuna infusions or tuna packets that can be opened and eaten with no prep).
- Plain and multi-grain Cheerios, Frosted Mini wheat’s. These cereals are filling and delicious even eaten dry
- Gogo squeeze yogurts and Gogo applesauce packs. These are shelf-stable and delicious!
- Ready to eat cinnamon applesauce
- Peanut butter (if you needed to eat a couple of spoonful’s of peanut butter for protein and to fill little tummies, this is a great item to have on hand. You could also use it to make protein balls with oats and honey).
- Krusteaz cornbread mix (does require eggs and milk, but we love this mix and it’s a great item to have on your food storage shelf!)
- All-purpose white vinegar
- Distilled vinegar
- Active dry yeast packets
- Kodiak Cakes power pancake mix (just add water) this is a great one for quick protien!
- Idahoan potato mix (just add hot water) these come in a ton of delicious flavors
- Nalley Chili con carne
- Ritz crackers, peanut butter sandwich crackers, Z Bars
- Iodized salt
- Cup of noodles (chicken, shrimp and beef) or Ramen noodles
- Pancake and waffle mix (just add water)
- Popcorn (plain kernels and packs of microwavable butter)
- Dehydrated meal packs are a great thing to stock up on. If you can boil some water, that’s all you need to add to make a meal!
- Protein drinks
- Oatmeal packets or cup of oatmeal
- Cream of wheat
- Granola bars
- Beef jerky
- Canned chicken
- Macaroni and cheese
- Canned fruit and vegetables, frozen fruit and vegetables
- Bread (pop the loaves into your freezer in case of shortages or make your own bread with these delicious recipes: Healthy wheat seed bread, Whole wheat honey bread, Basic homemade white bread
- Canned beans/lentils/chickpeas
- Quick Oats
- Syrup
- Jarred spaghetti sauce
- Potatoes and squash that can stay good for several months
- Bottled Water or emergency drinking pouches
- Powdered milk (if your family will drink it)
- Ensure or Pediasure drinks
- Freeze dried meals (we like this brand)
- Canned soups
Pantry staples that fly off the shelves during a crisis:
Honey
Flour
Salt
Baking soda/powder
Oil
Rice/Pasta
Broth (I love the beef and chicken bullion paste)
Canned soup
Bottled water
(NON-SHELF STABLE) Eggs, milk, meats
Dehydrated food storage bucket (shelf life 25 years)
In the next post of this series…
Next preparedness post I will focus on items to stock up on like diapers, wipes, feminine/personal hygiene, body products, paper goods like TP and even plates and cups, medicine, vitamins, antibacterial soap etc. Make sure you’re signed up for my newsletter HERE so you don’t miss it!
Easy storage preparedness ideas: Growing your own food
While stockpiling food storage is always a great idea, growing our own food, if possible, is also a great solution for having access to nutrition for our families! If you have a space in your yard to start a small garden, growing fresh produce for your table will be a great blessing. Gardening helps teach us self-reliance and gives us lots of opportunities to can, dehydrate or freeze food!
Just getting started with gardening? You will enjoy these posts:
Gardening basics: Your questions answered
Building affordable garden beds
Easy Food Storage Preparedness Ideas: PIN THIS POST!
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