Food Storage Masterclass

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Start Simple With these Baby Steps

An important part of preparedness is having enough extra food set aside to provide for you and your family in an emergency. A good goal to start with is two week's worth -- food for fourteen breakfasts, fourteen lunches, fourteen dinners, snacks, and drinks.

A more advanced goal is 3 month's worth, plenty to keep you covered for a more extreme event like a major flood, long-term power outage, or a severe weather event. But if you are starting with nothing, work towards the two-weeks worth of emergency food.

These are the steps that one mom followed when she was getting started:

"When I was finally convinced that we needed to start a supply of food storage, I kept it simple. I know there are many books, websites, and planners out there to help, and I have used some of those to get some tips and suggestions after I made my initial plan, but all you really need is a pencil, some paper and some time.

Start small

Start with your small goal of two weeks and follow these guidelines when selecting specific foods:

Choose foods you and your family will eat.
Choose foods that do not have to be refrigerated.
Include some foods that do not need to be heated in case your emergency includes a power outage.
Choose foods that are inexpensive; use store sales and coupons for the best prices.

Create a meal plan

Before heading out to the grocery store, do a little planning on paper. You can use Excel or another spreadsheet software or just start with paper and a pen.

First, create 7 columns, one for each day of the week. Next, create horizontal rows for each meal, snacks, and drinks. When you have this laid out in front of you, you can quickly see if you have too many repetitious meals. Plan on repeating these same meals for 14 days, your 2-week goal.

A super-simple plan is oatmeal for breakfast, peanut butter, tuna or chicken sandwiches or soup with bread for lunch and then decide on seven dinners your family likes and whose ingredients align with the 4 guidelines above.

A few very easy dinner recipes are canned chili, spaghetti, rice and beans, pasta with chicken and vegetables, tortellini soup, and taco soup. The large family-sized soup mix pouches are really handy for these meals.

Your emergency food supply should include snacks, so add things like nuts, dried fruit, cheese crackers, hard candies -- again, foods that don't need to be refrigerated and won't melt in a summer power outage.

For drinks, yes, you can have only water -- my family drinks water more than anything else, but it's fine to add coffee, dry milk powder, or drink powders.

ACTION STEP: Before going any further with this assignment, stop here and create your spreadsheet/chart and start planning your meals.

Make a grocery list for your food storage

Once you have your meal plan in place, it's time to make a grocery list. This step will go quickly because in some cases, such as oatmeal, you may only need to buy one or two containers.

Your list might look something like this:

One large tub of peanut butter
One large jar of grape jelly
Eight cans of soup
Four big cans of tuna
Eight big cans of chicken
Large container of oatmeal
Brown sugar
Four packages spaghetti
Four jars marinara sauce
Raisins, etc.

If you've chosen recipes that require seasonings, be sure to add those to your list. Keep in mind that this emergency food supply will be kept separate from the everyday food in your kitchen cupboards.

Look for smart buys

Now that you have a list, start by looking for sales and clipping coupons. Check out dollar stores for very low-budget ingredients. When you do your regular grocery shopping, pick up a few things on your emergency food list. If tuna is on sale, buy a couple of cans for now and a couple of cans for your emergency stash.

One friend who went through this process said,

"It took me about a month or so to get a full week’s worth of food stashed away, but it felt like a big accomplishment. Really, I felt like I wanted to throw a party to celebrate our family being prepared. Instead, I took my children on a tour of our “downstairs pantry” and the smile on my oldest child’s face was enough celebration. She is our worrier and now she didn’t have to worry about being hungry if we lost power or were trapped by a blizzard. Mommy and Daddy were all set to take care of her."

Moving forward, continue to keep an eye on grocery store sales and coupons. You might notice some foods on sale that fit the 4 guidelines for emergency storage and add those to your menu.

Just do it

If you already do meal planning, using a method like this could make starting a food supply really easy.

There are other steps to take once you establish food storage, but the first step is to plan. Then, follow your plan and get the food.

After that, you can figure out what inventory and rotation system works for you as you add to the supply. After I had a week’s worth of food, I challenged myself to get a second week’s supply, and on it goes.

The best slogan for beginners? K.I.S.S.

When it comes to food storage, it's best to jump right in with a trip to the grocery store once you have your menu plan. Dehydrated and freeze-dried foods can all come in good time, but if you're just getting started, grocery store food is fine.

Buy more of what you already eat. You know what that is. I don't.
Look for bargains. Use coupons and combine them with store sales.
Zero in on canned foods because of their long shelf lives, but buy only those foods you would actually eat.
The best foods to store are the simplest -- individual ingredients vs. convenient, processed foods.
Think about foods you could eat if you were without power. Buy extras of those foods.
Baking supplies are generally inexpensive. Buy enough ingredients for making bread. Find a good, basic bread recipe and a calculator. Decide how many loaves of bread you might need to make per week if fresh, store-bought bread wasn't available. Begin stocking up on those ingredients in the quantities you've calculated.

The bottom line here? Keep it simple when you start. It's the starting that's most important.

Is that all there is to it?

No, but this is a good place to begin. As you begin filling your pantry (or closets or bathroom cupboards!), you'll begin noticing gaps that need to be filled. Maybe you've been stocking up on baking supplies but not enough produce, or perhaps you don't have any dairy products stored.

You'll also realize the need to use up foods with older expiration dates. This is called 'rotating your food'.

It's encouraging to watch those rows of cans grow, and the day will soon come when you realize, "We have enough food here to last us at least two months!"

Start where you are now, based on what you and your family eat. Just start!