If you’re like most preppers you probably have a pretty wide assortment of food stashed away. My own supply contains everything from MREs and freeze-dried camping meals to sacks of bulk rice; there are dozens of different items in there. My guess is that your own stockpile is pretty much the same – and that makes sense. A wide variety of food won’t just help you put together nutritionally balanced meals after the SHTF; it’ll keep your diet more interesting and enjoyable, too.
What if you couldn’t have all this variety, though? What if you were only able to stockpile, say, ten or twelve items? Which ones would you choose then? I read an article about this a couple of weeks ago and got to thinking about it, and it was an interesting exercise. In the process I realized it was more than just interesting, though – it could be useful, too.
It’s easy to go for variety if, like a lot of people, you build up your reserves by adding a couple extra cans and packets to your grocery cart every week. On the other hand, the cheapest and most efficient way to stockpile food is to buy it in bulk, and once you start doing that you need to focus on fewer items unless money and space aren’t limiting factors (and, for most of us, they are).
You can build up a large stockpile faster and more cheaply if you pick a few items and buy them in bulk quantities. Of course, you need to pick the right items, because it’s important to still have a balanced diet – the cheapest solution of all would be to just order a few hundred-pound sacks of rice, but that wouldn’t just get boring in a hurry; you’d be missing a lot of essential nutrients as well.
On the other hand, with a list of ten items you can still buy in bulk and also have enough options to put together a balanced diet. The article I was reading attempted to do this, but some of the food choices were… unusual, to say the least. Nutritionally it all made a lot of sense, but the key thing about a survival food supply is it needs to be nutritious foods you can store. Whatever you think of broccoli, it isn’t famous for its long shelf life, so I decided to make up my own list to see if, restricted to just ten foods, I could do better. I think I did.
#1. Sauerkraut
It’s hard to store green vegetables, and that can be a problem – they’re a good source of Vitamin C and several other nutrients. My solution is sauerkraut. When I was a boy, my grandmother made huge batches of this every year; now my wife and I make our own. Sauerkraut contains Vitamins B, C and K; it’s a good source of fiber, iron and many other minerals, and is rich in antioxidants.
Properly canned sauerkraut will last for several months, at least – but if you store it in a cool root cellar, and do some basic food safety checks when you open the jar, my experience is that it’s good for a couple of years at least. In the days of sail, ships loaded barrels of it to protect the crew from scurvy on voyages that could last for years. Every year, when we harvest the cabbages from our vegetable lot, a new batch of sauerkraut goes to the back of the shelves.
#2. Jerky
Personally, I’d prefer not to get all my protein from plants, so meat would definitely be one of my ten items – and there are a few reasons I’m going with jerky here. First, it’s light and compact. Meat is up to 80% water by weight, so by dehydrating it you can save a lot of pounds. Secondly, jerky will last a long time if it’s dry enough and properly packed. Vacuum pack it in mylar bags with an oxygen absorber, and it should stay good for years. Jerky is also versatile. It can be soaked and added to soups, stews or other dishes to add protein and flavor, or it can be carried as a lightweight snack when you’re on the move.
The one downside of jerky is that it’s expensive to buy, but it’s easy enough to make your own. All you need is a dehydrator, or a drying rack and a screen to keep insects off. I have a light wooden frame with racks inside and a covering of door screen mesh; it lets air circulate, but keeps bugs off the drying meat.
#3. Beans
Dried beans are already a staple of most preppers’ food reserves. They can be stored for years, and let you make a wide range of filling dishes. They’re great for bulking out soups and stews. Beans are also a good source of protein, which is unusual for a vegetable, as well as fiber.
Beans are a good candidate for bulk buying. A pound of pinto beans will cost you about $1.50, but Walmart will sell you a 20-pound bag for less than $15.
Related: 50 Days of ‘Survival’ Calories with Rice and Beans
#4. Rice
Another prepper favorite, rice is the staple food for over half of the human race. A fifth of all calories eaten in the world are rice. As you can probably guess from that it’s a great source of carbohydrates – and a survival situation is not the place for a low-carb diet. Rice is just as versatile as beans, and can be cooked in many different ways. On top of that, if you combine rice and beans you get a complete protein – the combination contains all the amino acids your body needs.
Rice is also available from Walmart in 20-pound sacks, and one of these will cost you just $8.43.
#5. Lard
Fat is an essential part of a healthy diet; the question for preppers isn’t whether to include fat in their food stores – that’s a no-brainer – but what kind of fat to stockpile. There are arguments for canola or coconut oil, and I have those myself, but if I was limited to ten foods I think my choice of fat would be lard.
Lard is tasty, packed with energy and rich in essential fatty acids. It can also be stored for a long time without going rancid – most people will say a few months without refrigeration, but the reality is that lard in a sealed container will last for years. You can make your own lard by rendering and straining pork fat, so if you keep pigs there’s an obvious use for that belly fat.
Lard is also pretty cheap to buy. A four-pound pail will cost you less than $7; for storage and convenience, melt it and can it in smaller jars.
#6. Potato Flakes
Potatoes are a great survival food. They’re very high in carbs, especially starch, which makes them a really useful source of energy. Potatoes also contain a lot of Vitamins B6 and C. Unlike a lot of other vegetables potatoes can also be stored for a few months in a root cellar, or in cold weather you can bury them in clamps. For real long-term storage, though, you’re better off with dehydrated potato flakes.
Potato flakes are just boiled mashed potato that’s been dried and crushed. Mixing them into boiling water will give you instant mashed potatoes; they can also be used for baking and to thicken soups and stews. RealFoods will sell you 220 pounds of potato flakes for under $130, but I make my own; all you need to do is make mashed potato, without adding any milk or butter, then spread it thinly on sheets and put them in the dehydrator. Then I break up the dried sheets of potato, give it a couple of seconds in the blender and vacuum pack the flakes.
#7. Sugar
Diet nuts say sugar is “empty calories”, but when survival depends on your ability to do hard physical work there’s no such thing as an empty calorie; you want all the energy you can get. Sugar is basically pure energy, in a form that your body can use quickly and easily. Use it to add energy to hot drinks and stewed fruit. If someone is ill and has lost their appetite, sugar water is a good way to get energy into them. You can get ten pounds of white sugar for less than $5 in Walmart or any other big-box retailer.
#8. Tomato Paste
Tomatoes are, nutritionally, pretty useless. They do add a lot of flavor to meals though, and the sort of bulk foods in this list will get boring in a hurry if you don’t have something to liven them up with. As well as salt and pepper, which I’m not counting towards my ten (although salt is essential), tomato paste is a good way to make meals taste better. It makes a good base for pasta sauce and improves the taste of chilli, stews and a lot of soups. Even if it doesn’t do a lot for nutrition, I think it’s worth adding tomato paste – or dried onion chips, which are about as useless as a food but also good for flavor – to your cache.
You can get tomato paste in large cans, but as you probably won’t use much at a time you risk losing a lot to spoilage. The acid in tomatoes also reduces the shelf life of the cans. This is one time when you’re probably better buying it in smaller tubes, but you can save money on multipacks. A pack of six 4.5-ounce tubes costs around $12. You can also make your own.
#9. Milk Powder
Milk is something else that would be great to have in your stockpile if it lasted a bit longer, and again the solution is to store it as a powder. Powdered milk can be stored for years and used in hot drinks, baking and other recipes, as well as being reconstituted as a straight substitute for fresh milk.
Dry milk is another expensive item, and this isn’t one you can make yourself without some expensive equipment, so again it’s a lot better to buy it in bulk. You can get a four-pound bag for around $16 at Walmart.
#10. Powdered Eggs
Eggs are a great food that can be turned into lots of tasty meals. Unfortunately, while you can store them for a lot longer than most people think, we’re still only talking about weeks at most. The solution? Powdered eggs. Talk to Brits of a certain age and they’re still complaining about how much they hated powdered eggs during WWII, but the truth is powdered eggs are great for making French toast, scrambled eggs, omelets and plenty more. It can also be stored for up to ten years.
Whole egg powder isn’t cheap, but you get a lot of calories and protein for your money. A six-gallon tub costs around $200 from Augason Farms, or you can get four gallons for $115 in Walmart. If you have chickens and a dehydrator you can also make your own.
As I said, I have a lot more than ten items in my food reserve – this was a thought exercise more than anything else. It did throw up some good ideas, though. If you could only stockpile ten food items, what would they be?
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COFFEE!!!!!
Yes, coffee and tea. Buy loose tea. If kept dry, it will keep. Buy instant coffee. While it may not be the same as your favorite Peetbucks ultimissimo super grande, it will satisfy your caffein craving and keep you awake while you are on the midnight to 0400 watch for zombies. No nutritional value but lots of spiritual value.
left coast chuck:
Sir, I didn’t know until recently that black tea, coffee and cocoa goes through a fermentation process. I haven’t done research into it, so I don’t know the health benefits, if there are any, but it would be interesting to find out. Blessings to you and yours…
I just love the way you put it, Left Coast Chuck, “lots of spiritual value”. So true, that’s how I feel about tea, specially herbal ones!
Coffee and tea would be great trade items because there are people who are going to want those things. That being said. I usually buy a brick of coffee or 2 when I need another one. Rotating them is pretty easy. Also, learning what herbs you can plant to make your own tea is pretty easy. You can grow mint about anywhere and hang it to dry for winter use.
I recommend tea over coffee. I can smell brewed coffee from a long distance, but tea gives off no or very little odor.
Greywolfe: I think you would have to have a very sensitive schnoze in order to be able to detect the odor of instant coffee at anything further away than a foot.
That’s one of several reasons why I recommended instant coffee as opposed to green beans or any other form of coffee. In the sandbox Marines were taking the instant coffee in the MREs dry and drinking it down with the water in their canteen.
Try that with free beans.
For the effete among us who can’t quite choke down dry instant coffee, all it takes is water hot enough to melt the crystals. Instant is light. Lasts a long time and you can really kick up the caffeine in order to make it through the 0000 to 0400 watch which I always found to be the hardest to stay alert on.
When I was kid and partying, I used to take a handful of coffee beans to school. Chew some and they wake you up fast. niio
Not only that, a pinch of C-ration coffee between cheek and gum works to keep you awake on an LP all night as well. Same thing for instant.
You can use brewing coffee as BAIT to draw in others to take their stuff…..
Bacon is another one 🙂
I’m with you on Coffee – I have cases of ground canned coffee ( not decaf) and 2 Campfire Percolators — And i love Staggs Chili with beans – Had cans in my pantry for 12 years and they tasted just fine
TAS: Amen!
Please research and reconsider canola oil. It can cause toxic reactions, which I found out, in rather unpleasant fashion.
Yes, coffee! What about booze? Or cigarettes? Even though I drink little and no longer smoke, those that do will be “jonesing” big time and will be useful for barter.
Timothy: Store coffee as roasted beans. Makes sure the bags are airtight.
Booze, yes. The hard stuff never goes bad, but if you have an airlock and 5 gallon jugs, you can make beer and wine. Get bail cap bottles (lockcaps) to store it in. If not sold, both can be frozen and the booze drained from them; this is called an Indian still, American Indians made brandy and sourmash this way.
Tobacco in bulk, not cigarettes. If you have space in the garden, dedicate part of that to a wild tobacco, like flowing tobacco. Mind, one smoke from that will get you stoned, but it’s great as a medicine, as well. A plus, allowing the best plants to go to seed means free plants next summer. niio
Powdered eggs are nasty!
Tex: If it’s really the end of the world, you will surprise yourself with what you will scarf down like it was the tastiest barbecue you ever sunk your teeth into.
Texas Fred
That may be a good reason to keep chickens, as they provide eggs while laying and meat when they stop laying.
DTG-WTF
No self-respecting Texan puts beans in his chili and it is the end of the world Left Coast guess what we will have to use for water?
Fred: At last, someone who knows how to make chili! Beans on the side, always. Chilis are to be roasted. No salt in mine please. And shred the meat. 🙂 niio
Yeah, I will regret not reading everything now and not preparing better. But, in the final analysis, the safest place I could be will be on my knees trusting my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is coming back soon.
Powdered eggs are for recipes–I use them often in cakes, corn bread, etc…great.
Commercial powdered eggs? or self dehydrated? I have several friends who dehydrate their own chickens’ eggs, run them through a blender to powder them and then store them in vacuum seal mylar bags or canning jars. They do this more as ‘homesteading’ and having eggs available when the chickens aren’t laying (molting or winter egg reduction) but rotate their stores as they use them and say they’ve been good for years for everything except ‘over easy’ or ‘sunnyside up’. I’ve been thinking about trying it…
Remember you won’t get replacement chickies under some of the projected scenarios with out roosters, who tend to be noisy.. Tho I notice that sinbgle roosters are much quieter than multiples..
Compared to fresh eggs, sure they are. Compared to no eggs? I think they might have an edge there. Modern powdered eggs will make an acceptable omelet or scrambled eggs, and don’t forget you can use them for baking too. I think they’re a useful addition to a food stockpile. If you REALLY hate them, let me know what you’d store instead!
Love powered eggs, and powered peanut butter. Not together mind you but I have both in my stockpile
I posted a recipe for powdered eggs from a mess sergeant during WWII that Ernie Pyle put into his book on this website on another line that talked about powdered eggs. If I recall the recipe, he mixed the powdered eggs with powdered milk and something else and then dropped a scoop full of the mixture into a frying pan of hot grease and cooked them until the edges turned brown. Ernie said they were the best powdered eggs he had in his entire tour of the European theater. Inasmuch as Ernie spent most of his time in the line with combat troops and ate in many mess halls and open air kitchens, he had considerable experience with powdered eggs. If he vouched for the recipe, it must have been good or else he was exceptionally hungry, although that probably was a condition he was familiar with also.
Found that comment. The cook’s name was Rogers. The recipe for his eggs was:
2 1 pound cans of powdered eggs
16. Cans condensed milk
4. qts of water
Mix into a batter, ladle out and cook in hot lard. They get brown around the edges like real eggs and don’t taste like real eggs, but are good.
Now I have to read about lard. Don’t laugh. Mom used Crisco and I’m clueless.
Gov: Mom used crisco and had health issues. She was an uncontrollable diabetic till we forced her off gluten. Then her heart started acting right, as well. We eat tallow and lard, and schmaltz from poultry. If it ain’t deep-fried, is it food? And no cholesterol problems. Animal fats have a lot more than grease in them. Old-style butter, the milk aged overnight, is used to heal. Lard beaten with rose petals is a good bruise salve. Plant based fats get rancid easily, and when heated absorb hydrogen, which is toxic.If you can get fats from pastured animals, then you’re miles ahead it’s loaded with the same Omega fatty 3s as all that fish vegetarians love to eat. niio
Red- Vegetarians don’t eat fish. Hence the name. Pescatarians do eat fish though. They both usually will eat eggs, and dairy as well. Vegans don’t eat any meat or anything from animal. They crazy people in my opinion, they are worse than Religious salesmen. And get butt hurt when they can’t convince you the world is dying because of cow farts.
Dinie: India, vegetarian, they eat fish but aren’t allowed anything that has a soul. Vegans eat no animal products. Vegetarianism is a religion. It started 500 years ago when the Brahman banned common people from eating meat. they kept that right for themselves, of course. Hitler was a vegetarian and he ate fish. Tell them you have a good religion, and it commands you to eat something from an animal at least once a day and to wear animal products fur, leather, feathers, wool. If they persist, then you are Native American and you don’t want them proselytize you.They do confuse easily, being liberals. Cow Farts vs. Vegans: In 1950 there are about 60 million cattle in the lower 48 area (buffalo are cattle) and no vegans or problems with methane. Today, about 40 million cattle are in the lower 48 and a lot of vegans, and now we have a methane problem, according to the left. 🙂 niio!
Red, thanks. Just looked up about Crisco and it is not good for you, full of transfers, processed to death. Does have a shelf life of 8-10 yrs, though. Read about lard since I didn’t know what it was. Sounds way better.
Crisco makes a decent candle. Can be used as a lubricant.
I have Crisco (white Crisco, not liquid) for those reasons but can use it as an option if I have nothing else.
Hey, red, I’ve got a question: have you ever had pemmican. Do you like it?
Gov: Yes! Every area had it’s own variations in the recipe. Basics is dried meat (sterilize first), dried fruit, veggies if you like them (timpsula, prairie turnip, is popular from Texas to Alberta), what spices you like. Pack in a casing, pour melted grease over it. Smoked or not. Italian spices or what you like.
I like it smoked. Better flavor and the ‘sausage’ kept for months even in the heat. When hanging cured meat, it should always be kept with a little smoke over it to keep ham beetles out of it. niio!
Thanks, red. That prompted me to read an article and long thread at WildeRix on his making pemmican. The article and responses from others were very interesting. Pemmican is too advanced for me at this point. I have made jerky a number of times, but didn’t know what tallow was when you mentioned it before. Now I do and the crockpot method for rendering sounds more my speed. Also, looked into commercially-prepared pemmican so I could try it. Even the Tanka brand fudges a little, but will buy it or a similar authentic brand for a taste.
Am making some headway this year on bread-making, a milestone for an essentially shake-n-bake cook.
A friend brought me some jerky his wife made with ground beef. It was terrific. I may try to do jerky with an 80/20 ground beef with some blackberries and mashed turnips to get a little further afield from the teriyaki dried steak strips. Would have to use a rack on a cookie sheet in oven as dehydrator would be a disaster. Also, here’s a thought- Once a year I indulge in Braunschweiger. It would probably make a heavenly jerky. That’s about as far from my comfort zone that I can wrap my head around. As my son always says- “It’s a process.” Sigh.
Gov, sounds good, but Braunschweiger never lasts long enough to make it to dinner here, let alone dried. Be warned, it’s made of liver and would likely soil fast. niio
https://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-recipes/braunschweiger
Went to the meatsandsausages.com website. Talk about hog heaven! You know, I think I will add a small roll of it to my Walmart list Monday. We’ll see if any of it makes it to an oven.
I actually scramble my own eggs and dehydrate them.
I like them alot better than “powdered ” eggs
Only bad thing is you can eat them “scrambled.
I put them in Mylar bags with 02 absorbers and seal them.
Carolinalady69- Do you dehydrate them in an oven on a cookie sheet on on a plastic disc in a dehydrator like for fruit leather?
The only thing I do is “scramble ” the eggs like I was going to eat them, and put them aside and let them cool.
Then, I spread them out “as evenly ” as possible over my dehydrator trays and turn on my dehydrator for about 10-12 hours.
I rotate the trays, ever so often to make sure that the eggs on the top, are dehydrated as well.
I do have the plastic disk for my dehydrator, and I use those.
Thank you, Carolinalady69. I will try that and then learn to cook with it. I bet the store-bought powdered eggs are every bit as awful as those fake eggs my husband eats to keep his cholesterol down. This was very helpful.
Carolina: that’s cool, How about dehydrating them whole, sans shell, of course. For times the hens were slacking, we used to put them in ice cube trays and freeze. A little spry of cooking oil makes them come right out. niio
Just be aware that powdered peanut butter will go rancid. Rotate & check it often. ?
Between being raised POOR, and later, Army chow, I learned that if one is really hungry AND food is safe to eat, then it is OUTSTANDING!!!
Hunger is harder to swallow than powdered eggs!
Susan: I tried to give up eating but suffered withdrawal pangs. Now, going carnivore and love it. niio!
I freeze dry fresh eggs raw – then you just add water and scramble. Taste as good as the day I got them from the coop. No additives and no preservatives – good for 30 years if put in a Mylar bag with an oxygen obsorber
Better than starving! Add things to the eggs that make them more pilotable like bacon, yes those baco’s are awesome,. And chopped cooked onion don’t forget the shredded cheese’ And their are recipe’s online, for other things. It makes leftovers a bit more to everyone liking.
I agree with the vast majority of this, but I’ll beg too differ on the tomatoes & onion flakes. The tomatoes are packed with lycopene, potassium, folate, & vitamins K & C, so they are essential to eye health, and preventing scurvy, to say the least.
The onion flakes, so long as they are simply dried or freeze dried, are great for cold & flu prevention & recovery, and are a good immune system booster.
So, even more reason to keep both.
The pepper is also excellent for digestion, immune health, and is also tonic for the entire urinary tract, including the kidnies. 😀
Carla:
Ma’am, he said “Potato flakes” instead of onion flakes…
Rj he actually said dried onion chips in the tomato paste part.
Tomatoes do contain some vitamins, but I wouldn’t say they’re packed with them. The fact is, nutritionally they’re very poor. Tomatoes are mostly water and almost all of what’s left is carbohydrates. I selected the foods on the list to give you all the nutrients a tomato will, plus adding essential proteins, fats and carbs as well. Tomatoes are fine, but with ten foods to play with they’re not good enough to earn a place on the list. Same with onions; great for flavor, lousy for nutrition.
The best way to store tomatoes that will last for a very long time (over 10 years) is to get a dehydrator and slice up the tomatoes and when they are good and dry, put them in the blender until they are powder, then seal them in food saver bags.Now, if you are thinking Hummm…I don’t have any of those appliances then I will say to you…You haven’t taken what is coming on our country seriously enough…Oh ya, you better hurry because by the end of this year, there is not going to be a person on this planet that is not going to have a drastic change in their life. Love Ya all…Good Luck!!!!
Tomato powder can be bought.
The recipe you link to for the tomato paste actually is for sauce, not paste. Just letting you know.
Beer!!, Chips, Pecante Sauce (Hot), olives, Kahlua, Vodka, Wacky Tobacky (rolling papers), bong, waterproof matches, Beer!!, solar powered ice freezer (for Beer!!), hot peppers, refried beans, tortillas,Beer!!
I don’t think your post-apocalypse life is going to be very long, but it does sound like you plan to enjoy it while it lasts.
I’m 71 yrs old. The “future” will be either TFF (Totally Fu*king Fantastic” or a TPOS “Total Pile of Sh*t”. My 71 yrs has been both. I will nnjoy what yeats I have left as much as possible. To all of you who are beginning your journey: good luck, you’re in for a hell of a ride.
Truth b told you are a space cadet. I do not want to provide food for you.
Great article!
do u have to due any thing to keep beans in a canning jar. will they swell or mole I have some in marlar bags but like the jars . due u seal the leads down to keep them swealing
Get the oxygen absorbing packs. It will seal the jar
Dried beans after a year are so hard they will not cook up good. I prefer to can mine. They have been known to last 25 years in a masson jar.
You have to Soak dried beans overnight in Water, drain then cook with fresh water. Just like Grandma did.
TLD: We soak, changing the water every day, until beans start to sprout. Water goes in the garden because it’s high in nutrients. Adding a heaping tablespoon to three gallons soaked beans make them cook faster and more tender, but rinse well! That water goes down the tubes. The soil has too much calcium anyway 🙂
Mary: throw a cup of dried beans in the blender. They make a good flour. Mix 50-50 with another flour and it takes on the taste of the other flour. A lot of kinds of beans, like pinto, were bred to use as flour. Soy? Erk! 🙂 The USDA wants people to stop feeding soy to livestock because it causes too many health problems. niio
I haven’t left completely yet but usually don’t have a lot of time to write but today I’m having a crummy day and feel like crap so to me this article is important enough to quickly jump in. I love Claude’s 1st choice. Sourkraut. When and if SHTF happens there may not be a lot of vitamin C sources left, especially in a northern climate, and if we don’t get enough Vit. C then we lose our teeth to scurvy. When the English first started xing the ocean they either took some limes (limey) with them or took some krauts with them to make sourkraut for them. And sourkraut is really easy to make. Cabbages will almost grow anywhere. There is an area in downtown Toronto actually called Cabbagetown because after the war that’s all people had to grow. I think Jerky is more of an American thing. My protein stores are in the form of canned salmon until I start sniping the neighbour’s pets. LOL! May have to get used to squirrel, raccoon and rabbit for a while. Beans and rice are a very excellent idea. Rice will keep almost forever and while I’m not THAT big a fan of rice right now if I’m truly starving to death rice will be worth it’s weight in gold. Speaking of gold it may be worth having some stashed away somewhere. Won’t be worth much during SHTF but post-collapse order WILL be restored sooner or later and then some kind of money system will have to be created again and then gold will come into its own. Be careful who you kill during SHTF because you may have to answer for it afterwards. Apparently beans and rice together are supposed to give you a fairly complete protein. Lard is good for many different reasons. My personal choice might be cans of Crisco. Remember to get candle wicks with the lard. If nothing else you can always make candles out of lard or any of its substitutes. I like the idea of potato flakes and in addition try experimenting with growing your own potatoes in containers RIGHT now. You don’t need a lot of room and as long as you have some potatoes left over every year you can keep your “crop” going. Sugar is also a good idea but for me personally more of an item I would want to use for barter rather than personal use. For that honey is better for me. Slowly but surely honey is getting very pricey. Grab some while you can. We can do without sugar but we can’t do without salt and if you want to keep making sourkraut you need salt. Tomato past for sure. An inexpensive item to spice up your meals. Also use it to make your own DIY ketchup. For me powdered milk is a non-starter. I hate milk to begin with and that powdered crap is the worst. That’s just me. Others may like it. Personal preferences. Powdered eggs may not be such a bad idea. Some are saying they’re downright nasty but when it comes down to the point where you feel like eating your own arm then I’m sure powdered eggs will seem like a banquet. I think coffee might be an essential. As Chuck mentioned it may come in handy on those long midnight watches but again for me an item better suited to barter. Not a big coffee drinker but every once in a while. Every once in a while a company like Folgers has the big cans on for a good price. Remember extra mason jars to store food items when you open big packages of stuff. You have a good sense of humour, Truthbtold. Having extra beer on hand might not be such a bad idea. It just doesn’t keep long. In the middle ages they drank way more beer than they did water as water quality was iffy to say the least. Which just may happen in a SHTF situation. Growing your own pot may not be a bad idea but more as a barter item than anything else. Smoking a lot of pot in a SHTF scenario might be more counter productive than anything else. When winter rolls around you might be saying to yourself, now where did I leave all that wood I cut up in the summer? LOL! Smoking material; tobacco. Again for barter. Oregano is also supposed to be very good in helping to prevent colds. @Jerry I’ve tried canned beef and it makes me hurl so not for me. I agree with most of your other stuff. I like the idea of cocoa. It sure would help to lift your spirits if you’re hunkered down in the middle of a bad winter. Alternatively chocolate bars sealed for long term storage. Wheat? Do you actually mean wheat seeds or flour? Wheat needs fairly specific conditions to grow well. I like the idea of canned peaches to break up the monotony. I have both “canned” peaches and “canned” mandarins but in sealed plastic jars. Should last for a while. I’ve also found that metal cans don’t do so well with fruit. Especially acidic stuff like pineapples which I still have a couple of small cans left which I HAVE to use up. Another thing that goes well with rice. The only thing I ever had go bad on me was a large can of pineapple juice which I had forgotten about. And while we’re on fruit and things like that remember cranberries if you like them. Not everyone does. One of the best sources of vitamin C. To me dried yeast is an essential if you’re planning on baking your own bread. I would prefer almond extract or almond-flavoured pudding mix instead of vanilla powder although some packages of ready made pudding mix might come in handy. Again, personal choice. Along with the cheddar cheese powder maybe some grated parmesan just to mix things up a little. Baking powder. Another essential for me. Along with baking powder also some baking soda. It has SO many uses. Along with baking soda some vinegar. You all know how handy vinegar is. A little sugar, vinegar, baking soda makes a fizzy drink and is good for you. And if worse does come to worse try and go into your stores sparingly while you hunt for what you can and in the meantime get REALLY serious about your garden which you’ve already started. If you don’t have a lot of property at the moment try container farming. Doesn’t take up a lot of space and most anything can be grown in 5 gallon pails. They’re still fairly inexpensive. And the other advantage for stuff high off the ground is that those blankety blank rabbits won’t get at your stuff. Unless you want them to. You could always have a little “rabbit patch” set up with strategically placed rabbit snares so that you have a steady supply of rabbit meat. As I mentioned earlier if “IT” happens there won’t be a lot of squirrels, rabbits, or raccoons left around me. I am armed and am quite handy with a weapon. Just have to careful with raccoons. They can carry a lot of different diseases and parasites.
I hope you feel better after saying all that. A lot of good info.
Thank you, Wannabe. Very kind of you and yes, after writing all that I just crashed and went to bed. Sleep does wonders for a bad headache.
Never tried raccoon but squirrel and rabbit are easy to get used to, quite tasty. Ate lots of them when I was a kid and the family finances were lean to nil.
Raccoon is greasy & VERY strong – flavored – I’m not a fan, & would have to be desperate. Groundhog (oddly enough, yes – I’ve had it) is actually not bad, at all. I prefer it to squirrel – not a lot of meat there, either.
@Armin – don’t toss the mj out with the waterpipe. In a SHTF sitch, any kind of pain reliever will be priceless, and not only to others. You may find yourself in need, if not want.
Thanks for that, Carla. I’ve never tried Raccoon but if SHTF happens then our sitch might very well become very desperate very quickly. I know there are groundhogs in Canada just not exactly where I am at the moment. I think I could handle groundhogs as a source of protein because no matter how many goods we have stored away because sooner or later we WILL run out. I still believe in my heart that SOME kind of SHTF is inevitable although I don’t know what form it will take. I only have about 20 years left at the most and I don’t believe I’ll see a 3rd global conflict in my lifetime. More than likely it will end being some kind of economic crisis. Or they’ll make the AI too smart and Musk’s worst nightmare will come true. LOL! There have already been a few “test” cases as far as economic crises are concerned. The ongoing Venezuelan collapse is foremost in my mind. The latest I’ve heard about that is they’re expecting the inflation rate to exceed a MILLION PERCENT!!! in Venezuela by the end of the year. And my heart goes out to those people. They’re no different than you or I and through no fault of their own they have to suffer horribly. Sometimes life really does suck. Haven’t heard much about Puerto Rico lately. Don’t know how they’re doing. And I feel so bad for you guys in the US with the hurricanes that go through sometimes and do so much damage. Florence was a son of a gun. Carla, I’m not a big fan of MJ but you’re right about the analgesic properties of pot. If nothing else use what’s handy. And I’m sure that it could still be used as a barter item if the potheads don’t steal it first. LOL! Theft will be a real problem when people get desperate enough. According to the news doesn’t seem to take much to start people looting even “just” when a hurricane comes through. And some people will loot the silliest things. As if a big screen TV will help you make it through a temporary crisis without electricity. I shudder to think what will happen to people in a true grid down situation and what I may be forced to do to survive. As much as we like to think we’re prepared I don’t think any of us are truly prepared for what may happen in a true EOTW situation.
have eaten lots of squirrel, rabbit, deer, quail, pheasant, in my day. Have not tried raccoon yet but my cousin is going to cook me some. slow cooked and bbq’ed
If I remember correctly raccoon it is rather greasy.. We ate everything except skunk. When you are hungry enough everything looks and tastes good. I would hate to kill non-poisonous snakes for food, but I would as we have very few rattlers here.
I have only skinned possum. Never skinned a raccoon. I know from first hand experience possum is the greasiest meat on the planet that I have experienced to date. While raccoons a just a shade pickier about what they eat, they, like possums are omnivores and are not above exploring a garbage can or two in an evening. Possums are as thick as fleas on a mangy dog around the dumpsters behind the fast food joints in the early morning hours. So I wonder, if Big Macs and Double Whoppers are bad for you in the original form, are they better or worse for you after they have been processed by possums?
Excuse me. I think I have to make a quick trip to the porcelain throne on that thought.
I’ve had coon in stew, braised first to reduce grease. Not bad. Mike
Racoon meat is very dark and has no wild taste due to the fact they eat only live foods. Good stuff.
I like sauerkraut about twice a year. And that is it. My mother’s sauerkraut was different. I ate quite a bit of it, and it was not too bad.
I stock the Hormel brand of canned beef with gravy. I agree on most of the other. Gag me with a spoon kind of agree. But Hormel’s is very good tasting to me.
The beef gives me the protein in a form I much prefer to the rice and bean combo. And I think it is a much higher grade protein. Not to mention, I get really tired of rice and beans really quickly. Not so much beef, as it can be used many different ways. So can rice and beans, of course, but only if you have many other ingredients.
Crisco was good in the old metal cans. The cardboard ones have limited the shelf life from at least 10 years to perhaps 3 before problems show up. Mostly in taste, sometimes texture.
While I would prefer to stock canned butter, which I stock (or ghee), lard actually works better for much of what I would be doing with the other ingredients.
I would also prefer honey, which I stock, but again, like the lard, sugar is better for many of the things I would be doing with the rest of the list.
I have kept Hershey’s chocolate bars for many years. They do eventually separate, with the oil coming out to the surface. The result looks weird, but I just stir the powder and oil back together and eat it with a spoon. Tasted fine 10 years after put into storage. But with the cocoa I can make losts of different things, including candy.
Yes, wheat, not flour. The wheat will keep for years, flour not as well. I grind as I need it.
The milk I agree. Regular low fat powdered milk tastes crummy to me. I was raised on fresh milk right from the cow. I keep powdered whole milk for long term, but it is limited more than low fat. Ergo, for this list, the low-fat powdered milk.
The vanilla is not powdered pudding but dried vanilla extract. It is for baking, cooking, and making the powdered milk taste ten times better.
I do not like cranberries. And have access to wild roses that produce lots of rose hips, which are high in Vit-C.
The cheese allows for many dishes with the other listed items.
Since it is a short list I had to make some hard choices. They came down to yeast first, baking powder, and vanilla powder. The vinegar and baking soda had to stay behind, along with many others.
Vinegar and backing soda are medicinal and useful cleaning agents among many other things. I would have some in stock. We all know 10 items to hoard is not practical so lets discuss all possible ideas.
Yup. Agree, ONP72. If push comes to shove you can also use baking soda to keep your teeth sparkly clean. Right now stocking up on baking powder as much as I can as I’m trying to figure out this baking “thing”. Not a great cook also but haven’t yet poisoned myself with any of my cooking “experiments”. There’s still hope, though. LOL! Have to also remember the baking soda. You can make an ersatz soda out of a little sugar, vinegar and baking soda. And it’s even good for you! My mum made me drink it when I was a kid and it was fun to drink as it was fizzing. Probably one of the reasons I’m still as healthy as I am even though I’m now officially an old geezer. RAOTFLMAO!!! It’s really difficult to discuss a ten-item short list for the long-term scenario. That would make pretty slim pickin’s but unfortunately that’s the subject of Claude’s current article. You could definitely live on the ten items Claude has chosen but it would be a sparse existence and after a while your neighbour’s dog would start to look pretty good as doggy steaks a la Chinese style. LOL!
Vinegar and baking soda have so many uses that, to be honest, I don’t really count them as a food item. I have plenty of both in my store.
Here is my list
1. Solar powered cooler
2. Chips
3. Salsa (medium)
4. Beer (see 1)
5. Wings
6. Vodka
7. Apple Juice
8. Tortuga Rum Cake (6)
9. Cap.Morgan Dark Rum
10.Coke (6 pack bottles)
You may start to think differently about sourkraut in a true SHTF situation, Jerry. Right now we still have access to toothbrushes and toothpaste. Not so much afterwards. That reminds me about another thing. Note to self. Stock up on toothbrushes. 😉 Not only is sourkraut chock full of vit. C but it also apparently helps to normalize the “good” stomach flora. There was a reason sourkraut was so highly prized on the early ocean crossings. I tried a little experiment with sourkraut (another one of my famous experiments…LOL!) and put the sourkraut in the leftover juice from bread and butter pickles and it turned out really well! Sweet and sour sourkraut. Sounds weird bit it’s REALLY good! Yummy! Sourkraut purists would of course want to lynch me but their loss. LOL!
Maybe it does all depend on the brand of canned beef, Jerry. I forget what brand I tried but it was very unpalatable to even look at to begin with. Smelled horrible. And while I was doing my best to eat it and swallow it down it was doing its best to come back up. It hadn’t gone bad or anything it was just horrible all around. I’ll see if I can find Hormel’s even if it costs a little more and let you know. As much as I like canned salmon even that would become a little much after a while. Variety is the spice of life.
I agree with most of what you say, Jerry. Animal protein is always preferable (to me at least) over even the best veggy combos. I’m still a carnivore at heart and I like my steaks. When I can afford them. LOL!
Didn’t realize they changed the Crisco packaging. Will have to check that out. Thanks for reminding me about canned butter. Another thing I have to be on the lookout for. Butter is so much better for so many things including baking rather than vegetable oil. I love scrambled eggs fried in a bit of butter.
I understand about the sugar/honey thing. Both have their time and place.
I’m also trying to see how long I can keep chocolate before it goes “bad” on me. But then, again, if you find that your chocolate has become a bit off after a time then just make sure there’s no REALLY weird stuff growing in/on your chocolate and make a chocolate fondue out of it. Friends. Chocolate. Wine. What can go wrong? LOL! Trying to stock up on cocoa also but DARN! expensive. Worth it in the long run I think though.
Wheat may be a better idea, Jerry, but up to now have never had any problems with flour. Even after many years of storage. I always store it in a sturdy, airtight container in a cool, dark place and even after years the flour is still fine. And if you think about it what do you do with flour anyways? When you use it you heat the heck out of it and unless you have anything really gross growing in it, the act of heating it and cooking with it should kill any pathogens that may or may not have accumulated in it. Anyways, bottom line is that I’ve never had any problems with any of my stored flour and some of it is well over a decade old.
I’ve also had fresh milk directly from a cow and it was wonderful. Didn’t do me any harm. And now they’re willing to jail farmers that offer people milk directly from the source as opposed to being pasteurized. The world is upside down and is it any wonder that people’s immune systems are so compromised? Anyways, no matter how desperate I may become, powdered milk (yuck) is NOT on my list. To those of you that like it. More power to you. I don’t judge.
Dried vanilla extract?!! Son of a gun. Didn’t know there was such a thing. Stupid question but I wonder if there’s such a thing as dried ALMOND extract? Will have to check out my local health food store. There’s a pretty good one in town.
As for cranberries, Jerry, I’ve talked with a number of people and they don’t like cranberries and I don’t understand why. I didn’t want to press them on the matter as they were quite adamant on the subject. Now, is it just the raw cranberries you don’t like or also the jellied cranberries in a can? Because the latter is absolutely wonderful and sweet/tart at the same time. And they’re already cooked. Good to go as is. Another very good alternative source of vit. C. You’re very lucky to have healthy roses with such a good supply of rose hips. I have heard so many good things about rose hips. Do you make rose hip jams or jellies or just teas?
For me, cheese is a must (the milk thing) as a good source of calcium and calcium is so important in our diet. I would be lost without cheese. If “it” happens and I would have access to fresh milk I would make cottage cheese out of it which is really easy to do. Simple cheese better than no cheese. Apparently yogurt is also pretty easy to make DIY if you have some yogurt on hand and you have a lot of milk that you need to do something with.
It’s very difficult to have a short list because in an extended SHTF scenario there are SO many things we need. Lately whenever I go to Walmart I try and remember to pick up a few extra bars of soap. If and when everything goes down good hygiene will be very important.
And as a last reminder, WATER! The importance of it cannot be overemphasized and I KNOW ALL of you realize it. Some way to either store enough water. Get it from a well, stream or lake or purify it. WATER! WATER! WATER! Without clean water we die within a week or so.
‘Nuff said about the kraut and cranberries, Jerry. Each to their own. So funny you mention pickled beets. One of MY least favourite. It may come down to something as simple as blood type and what each body (not body but like human body) craves and wants, to try and maintain optimum health. And I do know that beets have many good things in them. I like them every once in a while. 🙂 Especially with chocolate and ice cream on them. NOT! LOL! It’s a pleasure conversing with you, Jerry, and I do sincerely wish you and yours all the very best if and when things go south. Thank you for the great info and your links and kindness. 🙂
Hormel makes Spam,and Crisco is Motor oil in disguise very bad for you’re health.
The problem with Crisco was that it contained a lot of trans fats, which are not good news for your heart. It’s now been reformulated to get rid of almost all the trans fats, and my guess is that when you add up all the other threats to your life in a SHTF scenario any extra risk from eating Crisco probably isn’t worth worrying about.
Crisco gets rancid fairly quickly now. It didn’t use to but it does now. I would have peanut butter powder on hand. We use ir sometimes now and it tastes like, well, like peanut butter.
I can foods quite a lot…love to try different ways to preserve food. This year I canned Coleslaw, and satsumas. Since I am single and part of a pint or quart of anything often goes to waste, I often can in the small half-pint jars. Coleslaw is actually pickled cabbage (in sugar, water and vinegar) with a small amount of carrots and onions thrown in. Very economical to make and tastes great right out of the jar. If you want, you can drain the liquid off the cabbage, add mayonnaise and it tastes a lot like regular coleslaw. I also tried satsumas this year. Peel, remove as much of the pith as possible, divide into slices or keep whole), cut the pith line off with scissors where slices are joined in the middle and lightly squeeze seeds out. Put in jars and cover with juice (or sugar water). Process in water bath canner. Tastes better than mandarin oranges you buy in the store and you get to save a lot of fruit from your backyard tree. Home canned anything tastes better than store bought, most lasts just as long, and you control the amount of preservatives and chemicals that are put in your food.
It is my understanding that Steinfeld’s is no longer making sauerkraut. If that is the case, I know of no other sauerkraut that I would care to eat even if things got very tough. Anybody know of another really good-teasing kraut? And don’t suggest I make it. I am still working on the bread thing.
Gov: Yes, summer kraut. this was made by Native Americans in the east back when salt cost too much for most to afford. shred the cabbage, pack in jars, and add distilled water (I live in Arizona and copper is high, copper kills the probiotics). At 80 F+ it takes a week to ten days to ferment. If you can smell it, it’s fermenting too long. this is the best kraut for salads. It freezes well, and when fermented should still be crunchy. Pickle jars are good to use. We can’t ferment it on the floor because the dog will eat it up.
Thanks, Red. Maybe I can pick up another skill this year. After this virus has passed will check into when the next canning class is in the county and attend. The kraut sounds doable. We have plenty of pickle jars. In the meantime, will watch a few YouTubes on the subject.
Question, can I add a little sugar to that?
Gov: yes, but why? Cabbage is high in sugar. If done right, by day 10, it should be acid enough you think it’s going to eat the enamel off your teeth. 🙂 People pickle vegetables and raw meat in the juice. Freeze it for the best way to save, but slow-stop the bacteria or wind u[p with sulfurous sludge.
niio
Well, then, I will try to do it right. ; )
Gov: then I know you’ll have success. You’re efficient and bright. In the great depression, FDR’s not Carter’s, people lived on kraut and little else. But, always had fish on Friday and tried to have some chicken on Sunday. Kraut is high in a lot of good things. niio
Try Silver Floss – I am not a huge fan of sauerkraut but like this brand
Deb: Homemade summer kraut. No salt, just shred cabbage, pack in a jar, and add water to top it (our water is high in copper, so I use distilled). At 80-85 F, it takes a week to ferment. No stink, no salt, just kraut. It should still be crunchy when done and stays that way even when frozen. the jar has to be kept in a bowl because it boils over. Commercial kraut, forget it. they’re selling overprices salt, not food. niio
Cheese (I buy the 2 lb. block when it is on sale.) In the refrigerator cheese will last at least 1 year past the exp. date. I am using a monteray Jack cheese right now that is 2016. A little tangy but still very good. Everything is better with cheese!!
Coffee – green (unroasted coffee will last indefinitely. I purchased a small roaster from Oregon state ($100.00) or use a hot air popper to roast (youtube video). Great bartering tool when you have fresh roasted coffee to trade!!
Considering how many cheeses are aged for flavor, I don’t see how a properly wrapped brick of cheese would go bad.
A great way to preserve cheese is to dip it in food-grade paraffin wax. Dip it a couple of times, letting the wax harden between coats, to make sure there are no gaps or thin spots. The wax will keep mold off the surface and do a great job of keeping it fresh. No refrigeration needed – just store it in your root cellar.
Hi, grow natural. Rex. I do the same thing with cheese. We need a good source of calcium and I just can’t “stomach” milk. I have a store quite close by named, Sobey’s, and they have what I suspect are end cuts of cheddar cheese on for a good price all the time. But they hide them unless you know where to look and I don’t tell others about them. Down from about $12 or $13 to $8.49 for at least 3/4 of a kilo so it’s a pretty good price for cheese. And cheddar is my favourite. It never grows old for me. They’re in a sealed package and last almost for ever in the fridge. I’ve only ever had one of them go bad but that was due to them not me. The package was still sealed and in the fridge. Some flaw in the production process. Too far gone to save. If cheese does go a LITTLE! bad on you just cut off the mouldy part and make a cheese fondue out of it. The extra heat should kill off any lingering pathogens. And then just invite some friends over and make a social occasion out of it. A little warm cheese. A little wine. A little bread. A little celebration. We’ll need those good times more than ever if everything is down for an extended period of time. 🙂 It could get quite Grimm.
You can freeze cheese also.
FYI, harder cheeses like parm can be stored dipped in wax at room temp for years! Happy prepping!
General information eggs taken straight from the chicken and not washed will remain good at room temperature for up to a year.
I keep chickens. Let me tell you that is not true. They will last 5-6 weeks before they rot. Sorry.
Eggs can be Waterglassed and last at room temp for a couple of years, but if you have chickens:
They are only typically needed for the winter months to get you by, as they slow down or stop laying during less daylight hours. ?
This is what I would store if only 10 items. It is tailored for me, of course, with my specific tastes and preferences.
1) Canned Roast Beef With Gravy (or freeze dried beef)
2) Powdered Milk (preferably whole milk, but will not keep as long)
3) Sugar
4) Salt
5) Freeze dried whole eggs
6) Lard
7) Freeze dried potato flakes
8) Freeze dried tomato powder
9) Cocoa
10) Wheat
For 12, add:
11) Canned peaches (or freeze dried)
12) Yeast
And for 15, add:
13) Vanilla powder
14) Freeze dried chedder cheese powder
15) Baking powder
I would make some changes depending on the actual situation. This is what I would get right now. If I had property or access to some where I could raise a variety of foods, the list would change.
Just my opinion.
Jerry
I’m curious as to why you’d include yeast and baking powder to your list since you didnt list flour. Are you planning on growing or making your own flours?
jerry: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-baking-powder-substitutes#TOC_TITLE_HDR_7
If you have baking soda and an acid (most fruit juices) or cream of tartar, forget baking powder. It tends to go bad after a while. And, as well, too many companies use aluminum as part of their process. niio
Sad to say, canned meat products like SPAM last several years after their best by dates, are calorically dense, and affordable. The Church of Later Day Saints website, LDS.org, is probably the best source of info for long term (30+ years) food storage there is. I am not one of the Saints (I —- on all religions, to be honest) but they are the most seriously organized Preppers around and will be a force to be reckoned with after TEOTWAWKI
People have eaten spam 17 to 23 years after best by date ,”there is no use by date on these products” and it looked and tasted just like a new can,as long as the can is not compromised in any way it should be good to eat.
Sorry, dmac. Spam makes me shudder . I don’t want to know what’s in it. Hope to god I never have to eat it.
cube it into small chunks and cook it with your rice and beans.
Yeah I guess not everyone likes Spam but in a time when meat is scarce and it’s pretty cheap it’s good to have and since it might last 15 years or longer . On the tins it says 90 % Ham and pork some of the best cuts of it it might be to salty for some but in a scarcity scenario one might be glad to have it.
I had it in my preps for awhile, but having to rotate it out means I had to figure out how to eat it. And I have to say that it is REALLY too salty for me. I don’t eat a lot of salt at all. And we rarely do processed foods anymore so I don’t think I would store this anymore. But, I didn’t know it would last 15+ years either… might not be a bad idea to keep some around.
Mix the spam with white rice. White rice taste better with a touch of salt anyway. Onigiri, which is a white rice ball is usually made with umeboshi which is a pickled plum in the middle. Onigiri with umeboshi is Japanese soul food. In any emergency, you will see the volunteers making nigiri to hand out to their fellow citizens who have suffered loss in whatever the emergency is.
I recently saw a program on NHK where the announcer was asking the man (or woman) in the street what was their favorite childhood food that their mothers made for them and onigiri with umeboshi was a hands on favorite.
For those of you who turn up your noses at Spam, I guarantee after a week of nothing to eat whatsoever, you will get down on your hands and knees and praise whatever god you pray to for a can of Spam and deem it the finest cuisine you have ever eaten.
You are either young or led a sheltered life. Spam was god send during WWII. Still like it.
Fry it and pour ketchup on it.
I blacken spam . ??????
Is it true that brown rice (long & short) grain cannot be stored for long periods?
Yes. Brown rice is not fully refined leaving part of the oils in tact. Removal of the protective husk exposes those fragil oils to air and rancidity.
Yes it is; the oils in the husks will go rancid and taint the rice. The same goes for brown pasta and wholegrain flour. When it comes to storing food for the long term, highly processed is usually better. That’s going to upset all the hipster food faddists, but I don’t expect them to last long after the SHTF anyway.
Yes it is true. The pool in the hull of brown rice (which is what makes it brown) will cause it to go rancid.
*oil, not pool!
What about bacon fat? Yummy, yummy bacon fat. And as far as tomato paste, or any tomato products for that matter, I have had more canned tomatoes and tomato paste (tubes or cans) blow up on me after lengthy periods of storage than I can count. Maybe most people use them up before they get to that point, but trust me, it happens.
Easiest way in my opinion to have none of those problems and have the benefit of tomatoes is to go freeze dried and buy tomato powder. The shelf life of ThriveLife Tomato Powder unopened is 8 years, and it lasts about a year opened. ThriveLife tomato powder has only one ingredient: tomatoes.
Simply add water to ThriveLife Tomato Powder to reach desired consistency for paste, sauce, or juice.
1 part powder + 2 parts water = paste
1 part powder + 4 parts water = sauce (Add herbs etc to make sauce)
1 part powder + 6 parts water = juice
I keep a pantry can of it around, so that I don’t waste entire cans of paste when I just need a little bit.
http://lrobbins.thrivelife.com click on “shop” and type tomato powder in search bar 🙂
Thats great unless something lasts long enough that you run out. Are you prepared to grow a garden to replace the powder? And dehydrate it in the sun? You know that someone has to sit there with it so the birds don’t eat it all right? My Mom had the job of shooing the birds away from the solar drying racks on the roof as a girl. She got an umbrella to hold sometimes.
If you can grow stuff you can raise your meat:chickens, rabbits, goats, even certified clean rats and these can be raised in an underground (separate) bunker with sun tunnels hidden from view with plants around but not over shadowing it. Most of these animals breed prolifically so a continual meat source. (Note you need more than one breading pair because these are social animals and need company) If you have your own land you should bring your animals into a bunker at night anyway to keep them safe from marauders and predators. Then from them you could have fresh eggs, fresh whole milk, cheese, skins, thread for sewing or weaving, their shit for your garden compost and the list goes on. I am gathering knowledge on wild plant IDs for edible and medical uses. Info for making my own saves tinctures, healing teas etc. I am also gathering info on old skills from bygone eras, what the settlers knew. Talk about barter power! Also something to read in a bunker to pass time and keep you sane. After all the flooding we have had in the USA my mind wonders where is a safe place to build a bunker? And if you are making your own bunker/root cellar like in the Easy Cellar book, this would not survive a major flood.
As far as a safe place is concerned, ONP72, it’s basically a coin toss. Try and take everything into consideration. Do the best you can. Hope for the best. Flooding may be a real consideration with all of it going on lately. This may just be the start of mother nature toying with us. Maybe go to the extra bit of effort and build drainage into a bunker. If you can. Sounds a bit contradictory. Trying to drain a hole in the ground. And store all of your goods in sturdy watertight, waterproof sealed containers just in case. We can’t plan for everything. We can just do the best that we can.
And what do you do in a place like North Central Florida….9 months of year it’s hot and humid and if you dig 3 or 4 feet down, it’s wet and/or clay. We only have window a/c units which do not efficientmy cool even now and won’t work at all without electricity. The house is old and poorly built. We are on 1 acre but the soil is not good. I am 67 with an adult emotionally disabled son. We are trying to stockpile food etc but there isn’t much money to get extra stuff. I’m not whining or wanting pity. I just need some practical ideas on how I can better prepare and store things as I have a feeling that life is about to get much, much harder. I appreciate any input that anyone could give me.
I used to live in Jacksonville so know what you are talking about. Seems like all that grew was kudzu. I am not as experienced as many who post, but can make a few, hopefully useful suggestions.
First, focus on things that you and your son like to eat.
Second, if the ketchup or whatever is on sale, get two that trip. Even one item added is progress.
Three, I could eat Dinty Moore beef stew every day of the week. A small can could dress two big platefuls of rice or other starch nicely. Plenty of calories with some veggies and needed fats thrown in.
Next, regarding your house. When I worked in Jacksonville, admittedly long ago, you could call the mayor’s office for an emergency home repair. Most places have something like that. So, if there is a hole in your room, you might be able to get it patched. If you are afraid you are going to fall through those back steps, you might be able to get them fixed, for free. There are also things like no interest roof repairs, etc., but I am not talking about that. You can get some stuff done free if you know where to call. Usually, the agency that does food stamps can refer you for help to tons of stuff. You call up and express a need like home repair and they tell you what agency can do it and give you a phone number. I did that job for a while in Oregon and the breadth of resources they can give you is amazing.
Also, you might be able to get some paint free. A coat of paint on a room can make a huge difference. Most dumps have a recycling station where people turn in things like partial cans of paint.
Next, if you are interested in trying to grow something, a call to the county extension agent will connect you with a master gardener who can tell you what will grow in the poorer soils in your area. I bought a thing for growing potatoes, the small kind. It is a plastic pot with most of the sides cut out that fits inside of another plastic ploy and there is a way that the bottom drains. You put dirt in it then plant potatoes in it and after awhile you just lift up the inner box and harvest a couple of potatoes off the sides and plop it back down. I think you could give it a try with two heavy duty cardboard boxes. Probably an unnecessarily complex method, but if you have deer who are going to eat everything up, it might help. If you do try the garden thing, go small at first so you don’t set yourself up for failure.
Lastly, dealing with the emotionally-disabled is the most challenging situation of all. If you are in danger, you must do something about it now. If not, do not give up just because the situation seems hopeless. I am not talking about a cure, just making the situation a little better. For example, if your son doesn’t take his melds because they make him feel funny, he might be open to trying another med. Or, if that is a no-go, there may be an alternative, some little coping mechanism that would help with anger management or whatever the main problem is.
I hope I did not offend you with any of this. There is help out there and perhaps there are one or two things you can do that Might make things better for both of you.
quietsong: I live in Arizona. Up in Phoenix years ago, a man wanted a garden, but the soil is adobe, wet, it’s sticky. Dry, is great for bricks. He had tree trimmers dump loads on his property (free for the asking), and let it settle and planted in that. He still does this tho he’s 80 or so. When in Pennsylvania, one sister asked me to make her a garden. You couldn’t get a shovel in the soil it was so hard–red clay and rock. I had a few loads of tree trimmings dumped, made beds, and planted in that. by fall, the soil was great, soft, and she did a lot of canning. Read Ruth Stout’s work on mulch. I have yet to see it fail. You might worry about slugs and snails, but ducks love them, and a little salt kills them. niio
I think that this is one of the better article that has been posted in a long time. It has generated some good responses and questions. That being said, here is mine:
If lard is canned, how long will it last? What about canning bacon grease?
Hi, CCTer. Good question. Almost anything can be “canned” and if you do it properly will last for a very long time. Just as an example whenever I make jams or jellies and slam dunk them into mason jars I cover the hot simmering mixture with a very thin layer of alcohol. But cover it completely. My thinking being that in days gone by people sealed their jars with wax. That’s not good enough for me. If ANY pathogens make it into the jar during the preserving process I figure that the alcohol should kill almost any and everything nasty that might make it into there. Also the hot mixture should generate alcohol vapors and when the jar cools down make for a better vacuum and seal. Especially as I’m using 126 proof booze for the process. I figure doing that and storing it in a cool dry place out of the sunlight my preserves should last almost forever. Maybe even 50 or 60 years. And when you open a new jar of my homemade jam and take out that first spoonful. My goodness! That certainly is one heck of a wake up first thing in the morning. LOL! But I digress. Claude had an article earlier this year on that very topic you’re interested in. Here is the link. http://www.askaprepper.com/how-to-stockpile-lard-the-calorie-rich-survival-food-of-the-great-depression/ Hope this helps. 🙂
Ive been canning for a while now. I read the Lard article a couple months ago, but didnt have the answer to my question that I asked. If canned, how long it will last. Additionally would like information on the proper way to can bacon grease.
Lard canned in a jar will last a long time. Bacon grease the same. To can bacon you have to lay flat on brown paper sack and roll up, can it just like the meat it is.
CCTer, In fact, bacon grease is just flavored lard. Just make sure all the solids are removed from it then can it as you would lard. Lard is just pig fat, bacon is made from pork.
Bacon grease and lard will last almost forever if kept in covered jars. Crisco is vegetable oil, lard is animal fat rendered. Mike
Why stock yeast? Yeast can be obtained anywhere and is easy to make your own. I’m just lost on why anyone would stock yeast. Yeast is alive and will go dead quickly. And as I said it’s so easy to make your own yeast anywhere in the world. Different locations gives you different yeasts…
I could agree with this to a point. Maybe learning how to make sourdough yeast would be more applicable.
I know how to make yeast from raisins. I add them to my mead and let it ferment naturally. I think its better that way than with the commercial yeasts.
In times past people would open ferment like that for beer, mead bread and kraut. It’s more about what you have the knowledge and skills to do.
Peanut Butter. Very filling. Nutrient dense. Affordable.
I would love to see a meal plan for a month with just these items. Maybe I will sit down and work on something.
Of course you would have to supplement with anything fresh that you could when it is growing.
I have been planting more perennials around my place every year so I’m hoping that will help keep me fed for a bit longer too.
Dinie, I would love to see your meal plan.
Give me some time. I might put something together. Maybe I can be a guest poster!
Tap the email account you wjsh to take away.
One can purchase dried beef in sealed jars in the meat section of your local grocery store. When it was considerably cheaper, and during WWII my mother used to buy it when fresh meat was unavailable at the butcher shop. Yes. Can you image? During WWII at time the butcher did not have any meat, not even chicken, in stock.
Of course, for a few (or a lot) of extra dollars he might just find a steak hidden away in a dark corner of his refrigerator in the back room.
My parents refused as a matter of principle to deal in the black market. My father only drank medicinal whiskey ( there are folks like that) when he was ill and he never smoked in his life. He could have traded his whiskey and cigarettes ration stamps for bucks or more gas or tire stamps but he never collected them. I suspect that the folks who handled distribution of the ration stamps somehow managed to find a use for his stamps.
Anyway, back to dried beef in a jar. It now is not a cheap cut of meat. But you can make S.O.S. out of it which we had on occasion during WWII. It was frequently served to GIs overseas because it shipped well and you could really put a pile of dried beef in a compartment in a ship as opposed to fresh beef or even Spam.
It’s sort of like jerky but not nearly as chewy as jerky. Hard to describe how it feels in your mouth. It is slightly salty — or maybe highly salty. I haven’t looked at the label recently.
Except for the glass jar it is light weight. It may be that it would keep as well if vacuum packed. Don’t know. Just throwing this out as food for thought (completely accidentally pun)
Easy route to tomato paste, boil tomatoes like for processing. Run thru a food mill (victorio type is the best) put in food grade buckets and let sit overnight. Pulp rises and juice goes to the bottom. Take off the top half of the pulp to process. If you have more than one bucket, combine them. Reheat and let sit overnight again. Take off pulp, process the rest as juice. the newer bail jars (circa 1940s on) are good for this. Rubber rings if removed with care can be reused several times. If you can, dried tomatoes stored in oil or tallow last for quite a few years. BTW, we’ve used the pulp buckets for fruit pulp, as well, peach, apple and so on.
I would add honey to this list as honey lasts forever and doesn’t need to be preserved.
The only thing I do is “scramble ” the eggs like I was going to eat them, and put them aside and let them cool.
Then, I spread them out “as evenly ” as possible over my dehydrator trays and turn on my dehydrator for about 10-12 hours.
I rotate the trays, ever so often to make sure that the eggs on the top, are dehydrated as well.
I do have the plastic disk for my dehydrator, and I use those.
Since I can not eat potato flakes or powdered eggs I will have to forgo those items. Both are treated with a sulfate or sulfite to preserve them. Those 2 items in them don’t like me and I surely don’t like what they do to me. I would recommend anyone with a SULFA allergy stay away from those two items because although the “experts” say they are not connected to Sulfa I found a article years ago the first time I used something with the sulfates, sulfites and sulfonamides are a relation to Sulfa
4Jesus: (Me, too!) Sulfur? Man, I thought only werewolves had a problem with that haha. On a serious note, dry your own eggs, and potato flour (called chun). It can get dark, but some people boil them first and say then it doesn’t. My hangup is gluten and dairy. I note that when in NYC, my stepdaughter buys only at halal and Kosher stores, and our allergies disappear. My best to you. walk in His beauty
Go to bulk stores (Costco) and get a couple of the largest size of Multivitamins, adult and child size if needed and as food sources dwindle supplement your diet with one every day. Also consider large bottles of vitamin C. Consider large Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen bottles.
Jerky, tallow (this is cattle country), dried veggies and -fruit, kraut!, 50 lbs bags of salt, and definitely jerky. We get dried (but not cooked) beef for 27 bucks/lbs at the Carniceria in Mammoth. Dusted with dried ground chilis and nothing will touch it.
Two items I think you should have is honey in place of sugar. Honey gives more and instant energy when consumed and since you are having lard you can place fresh eggs in jars and pour warm lard over them and seal the jars. The eggs will last as long as the lard. They stay fresh.
too many carbs
True, but it’s also healing if eaten regularly. It can be used topically for scratches and so on. Most people who raise bees eat the grubs, too, for the fat. niio
POssible to store a can of Crisco as my lard? How long to keep?
Jennifer: Any solidified veggie oil is high in hydrogen. But, unopened, it should outlast all of us. Check the label and add a few years to it. Lard and tallow last far long, and taste better. We save all used cooking grease (all animal fats) in juice jugs, which as acid resistant, to use as candles or lamp oil if things go bad. It’s kept 2 years, and then buried in the garden as a high potency nitrogen fertilizer. niio
just getting started in putting a little aside. I am wondering how to keep others from stealing your stash once you have it. If life gets as bad as some people are saying I’m sure people will steal everything they can lay their hands on. Articles or comments would be helpful. Tks.