What Bulk/Dried foods do you think are necessary?

Discussion in 'General Survival and Preparedness' started by Bandit99, Sep 26, 2018.


Tags:
  1. Bandit99

    Bandit99 Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    I haven't been prepping that long, only a bit over 3 years, but have come a long way in a very short time. I am relooking some of my preps (checking dates, etc.) and today, since it was a rather slow day, I took time to look at my Bulk/Dried foods, stuff like rice, beans, sugar, etc. which I have packed in Mylar bags with Oxygen Absorbers (OA), stored in food grade buckets.

    I have the following:
    Instant Potato Flakes
    Parboiled (Converted) White Rice
    (I don't want to mess with Brown Rice)
    Red Kidney Beans
    Split Green Peas
    Pinto Beans
    (not sure why I have them as don't care much for them but they're here so...)

    And, I'm thinking of adding some 13 Bean Soup mix ($32 for 25 lbs), need to research how it will store first but think it will be okay since it's beans...

    Other then that I got Baking Soda, Salt, Flour, Sugar, Chicken and Beef Bouillon Cubes/Powder, Yeast...

    So, of course, I got to ask myself, Am I storing the right stuff and what am I missing?

    Or, perhaps better stated,
    What
    Bulk/Dried foods do you think are really necessary?

    Opinions/Suggestions/Recommendations?
     
  2. Out in the woods

    Out in the woods off-grid in-the-forest beekeeper

    We approached this from a different angle. We decided to try to grow all our own food. Then to increase production enough that my wife can preserve surplus to carry us through Winter.

    Maple season is short. I only need enough maple to get us from one maple season to the next though. Then we have fiddlehead season, I only need to harvest and preserve enough for 50 weeks, to get us from one fiddlehead season to the next.

    So it goes for all the food we produce. [pork, chicken, herbs, honey, etc].
     
  3. HK_User

    HK_User A Productive Monkey is a Happy Monkey

    Got the basics and cattle.
     
    sec_monkey likes this.
  4. sec_monkey

    sec_monkey SM Security Administrator

    @Bandit99 methinks several wise monkeys have said "store what ya eat n eat what ya store"

    it sure helps with rotation :) :)
     
    chelloveck, 3M-TA3, Alf60 and 3 others like this.
  5. DKR

    DKR Raconteur of the first stripe

    Dump or eat the pinto beans before they turn into rocks.

    White bean, black beans, red beans, rice, oatmeal, cornmeal (or dry corn + mill with burrs) , non-fat, non-instant dry milk.
     
    Motomom34, Brokor, Dunerunner and 2 others like this.
  6. azrancher

    azrancher Monkey +++

    Well I'm SOL, I don't eat rice or beans except when we go out to the Mexican food restaurant, but it's hard to store english muffins and butter, and I don't have a cow. So here's what I store in mylar inside 5 gal buckets. Pinto beans, rice, wheat, barley, corn (dent), flour, sugar. Plus I have cans of other stuff to make it eatable, like canned chili without the beans, some vegies, a little coffee, baking soda, yeast, baking powder, spices canned meats.

    When you're hungry it doesn't matter if you don't like it or not.

    The one thing most preppers forget are spices, remember the spice trade 1200's to the 1500's, it makes bad meat taste good...

    Also you need aluminum foil, plastic wrap, wax paper, zip lock bags.

    I store a lot of sugar since I can't raise it.

    And of course I'm a chicken rancher, so we will have meat and eggs.

    Rancher
     
    chelloveck, Zimmy, 3M-TA3 and 4 others like this.
  7. Dunerunner

    Dunerunner Brewery Monkey Moderator

    [winkthumb]

    I'd better stock up on curry powder...

    Corn Meal, Maza, Whole Wheat Berries (red or white and requires a mill), Rice, and as have been said above..white beans, Red beans, split Green and Yellow peas, Lentils... and what @sec_monkey said!
     
    Motomom34 and sec_monkey like this.
  8. Bandit99

    Bandit99 Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    @Out in the woods "Maple season is short...Then we have fiddlehead season..."
    Okay, I understand the 'Maple' , more than likely being Maple sap, but 'fiddlehead'? What the hell is a fiddlehead? Google says it's...ferns!?

    @DKR "White bean, black beans, red beans, rice, oatmeal, cornmeal (or dry corn + mill with burrs) , non-fat, non-instant dry milk."
    Are these Blackeye Beans as I heard they will keep 8-10 years at the right temperature (~65F)? Oatmeal would be good idea but don't think it stores very well beyond 12 months does it? I'd like to store more (I have large sack) but if it only last 12 months...? I got non-fat milk in #10 cans. I simply didn't list them because it's in cans...

    @azrancher " Plus I have cans of other stuff to make it eatable, like canned chili without the beans..."
    I was just recently reading that canned chili has a very long shelf life. Some say 5-8 years and some say a lot longer... I need to get at least a case next time I see it on sale, as mine got depleted a bit, like you I keep cases of canned meats and chili, soups and etc. on hand.

    @sec_monkey "store what ya eat n eat what ya store"
    Yeah, I do, but when you only got two people in the house, you need to balance that 'shelf life' with what you store so I am more concern with foods that have a long shelf life for use in emergency. Don't get me wrong, we have a 25 lbs. sack of sugar in storage while we use the open 25 lbs. sack, same for rice, flour and etc. essentials.

    EDIT: Yes, spices...that's where I got a huge hole that I need to plug and like @Dunerunner I like curry!
     
  9. Brokor

    Brokor Live Free or Cry Moderator Site Supporter+++ Founding Member

    Before I knew it, 15 years went by and my long term food investment turned into a "how can I eat all this sh*t before it goes bad?" kind of thing, so I started restructuring. First, I sorted out all the canned goods, got rid of what I wouldn't eat and only stocked a few weeks worth of each maximum and used/replaced in rotation. Second, I started stocking up on freeze dried food in #10 cans, which have a shelf life from 25 years to infinity depending on the temperature and your own preferences on nutrition degradation. Also, I like oatmeal. A couple cases of oats in #10 cans from the LDS store solved this issue permanently. My honey reserves are nominal, and it stores indefinitely. Why lower my canned goods and other perishables? Easier to maintain, and it's a one-time investment going mostly freeze dried. The only primary concern would be water procurement, and the difficulty of this will vary depending on your geographical location. Food and water, done. I also have a reserve of about 500 years worth of various tea. Nothing beats a hot cup of caffeine in a crisis.

    Does anybody want 15 year old pasta in vacuum sealed bags by any chance? ;)
     
    Ganado, chelloveck, Zimmy and 4 others like this.
  10. duane

    duane Monkey+++

    Hot sauce, spices, dried onions, etc, I really hate the beans and rice without onions and spices, before you store anything, buy a years supply of navy beans for example, get a couple pounds at the market and eat them!!! Love Cajun beans and rice, love hot veggie chilli, love shells with tuna and a white sauce. Can't stand lentils plain, but several recipes from India and some meat replacement patties are great. Don't like the taste of some dried milks, others taste great, so before you stock up on anything, try it. We did and now rotate a lot of stuff thru as it just tastes great and the price is right. Tuna, shells, white sauce and spices can either be great or lousy, depending on the sauce, and it would be nice to have stocked the things needed to make it taste good as well. A lot of the staples in our diet, tuna, dried beans for soup, lentils, spaghetti and sauce, rice dishes, mac and cheese, noodle dishes, soup mixes, dried milk, instant potatoes, oatmeal, sugar, coffee, etc are not really long term storage foods, we just have enough on hand and rotate it to last 9 months or so depending on the season and the garden and the greenhouse production. If SHTF in spring and we could expand our food production, we hopefully could go a year before we had to tap our long term food storage and change our diet in a major way.
     
    Last edited: Sep 26, 2018
    Ganado, chelloveck, Motomom34 and 2 others like this.
  11. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    @Bandit99 a fiddle head is a fern. People harvest the fern head when it is just starting to grow.
    I am curious how you preserve them. Do you can them?

    I was reading a debate yesterday on rice vs. beans. Rice is easier to cook but beans seem to have more nutrition. I store a variety of beans but have more pintos then lentils or other varieties. I do have lots of white rice. I really dislike rice but it is nutrition and fills you up. I also have pails of oatmeal, cornmeal etc.. My freeze dried foods moved from purchasing the meals to cans of veggies. Example: instead of buying cans of freeze dried beef stew, I now buy cans of peas, corn and FD meats. I would rather put together our own meals.
     
    sec_monkey likes this.
  12. Bandit99

    Bandit99 Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    @Motomom34 "People harvest the fern head when it is just starting to grow."
    How are they eaten - I mean - salad or soup or used as a tea? I knew one could eat them and other plants in a survival situation but didn't realize some eat them daily.

    @Broker "Before I knew it, 15 years went by and my long term food investment turned into a "how can I eat all this sh*t before it goes bad?"
    Yes, that is sort of where I am heading but I am ahead of the power curve if I make changes now. Reference oatmeal, I just read an article that said, "groats, and steel-cut oats... still deliver “life-sustaining nutrition” for over 30 years if stored correctly." And, "Even the more processed form of Rolled Oats or Traditional Oats will store 20+ years if stored correctly." So, I am going to look into it and get some tucked away. They simply recommended using mason jars and OA but I suppose one could use mylar bags also. I just read on the LDS website that shelf life of a #10 can of Quick Oats oatmeal is 30 years! You get 6 ea. #10 cans for $29. I'm not sure why I overlooked oatmeal, seems like a no-brainer, but this was the purpose of this thread and I will rectify that oversight. EDIT: I also just discovered that I have a LDS store about ~1 hour away from me, going to try a visit Friday or Saturday.

    @duane "...spices, dried onions, etc, I really hate the beans and rice without onions and spices, before you store anything, buy a years supply of navy beans"
    Navy beans. How in the world did I miss Navy Beans?!? I love'em, especially over corn bread! Dried onions are a good catch also. So, my list is growing. Thanks!
     
    Last edited: Sep 27, 2018
    Motomom34 and sec_monkey like this.
  13. T. Riley

    T. Riley Monkey+++

    Rice, beans - several kinds, rolled oats, yellow corn, white winter wheat, lard\coconut oil, honey\suger, powdered milk, salt, baking soda, vinegar, spices. That's what I think is necessary but I store many more items in lesser quantities.
     
    Zimmy, Motomom34 and sec_monkey like this.
  14. DKR

    DKR Raconteur of the first stripe

    University of Utah - Ag extension office. Oatmeal stored (mylar, O2 robbers, cool, dark location) show no loss of nutrition after 30 years.
    (https://extension.usu.edu/foodstorage/ou-files/Food_Storage_Booklet2.pdf)
     
    chelloveck and sec_monkey like this.
  15. DKR

    DKR Raconteur of the first stripe

    Wheat for flour and bulger
    Corn for cornmeal, Masa hanna and polenta
    Oats (stone cut) or oatmeal
    rice (while enhanced)
    Dried beans - white,red, black
    Dry non-fat milk
    salt + spices
    add starter - like sourdough
    Need a mill with stones and burrs.

    Just add water and heat - you have most everything covered....
     
    chelloveck, Zimmy and T. Riley like this.
  16. Bandit99

    Bandit99 Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    I just came back from the LDS Storage Center in Spokane, WA. My first time dealing with them in any way and I was very impressed. They didn't carry a lot except the basics which is exactly what I needed. I didn't get a lot as like to crawl before I walk and, I want to test their products, but I was impressed by what I saw. The non-fat dry milk is package better than anyplace I have ever seen before as it comes in heavy-duty packets which produce about 7 quarts and is good for 20 years. I got the following today:

    2 #10 cans of Dehydrated Onions
    2 #10 cans of Quick Oats (I want to test these and compare to normal Oats)
    2 #10 cans of Regular Oats
    2 #10 cans of Dehydrated Apples
    1 case of #10 cans White Flour (Says it's good for 10 years which should supplement my Mylar bag flour nicely)
    1 case of #10 cans White Sugar (I simply wanted some in #10 cans)
    1 case of Non-Fat Dry milk (10 packets, 1 packet = 7 quarts)

    Anyway... FWIW, I thought the prices were good, people were nice, and quality seems great!
     
  17. hot diggity

    hot diggity Monkey+++ Site Supporter+++

    My dry storage stuff is mostly boring long term stuff and was good practice with food grade buckets, Mylar bags, oxygen absorbers and bay leaves one winter. I practiced the preparation and cooking of these over an alcohol stove, and it's been at least a decade since I went through the whole penny and cat stove phase. In addition to the usual beans and rice... I recently found a forgotten bucket of popcorn. (Always have popping oil on hand and have found it has well over the 18 month shelf life stated on the container.) I have many dusty buckets of salt in the barn (hundreds of pounds of salt - Most of it from before Y2K), coffee, non-dairy creamer, sugar, although I prefer honey since it stores indefinitely, exotic spices and teas from all over the world thanks to the Officer's wives club who had thrown them all away. I found a five gallon bucket of bird seed under the grill cover after Hurricane Florence... and more salt. Salt is cheap now, keeps forever and is essential to life. Makes popcorn and rice taste better too. [pop]
     
    chelloveck, Zimmy, Motomom34 and 2 others like this.
  18. Bandit99

    Bandit99 Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    @hot diggity 'Salt is cheap now, keeps forever and is essential to life.'
    You're right. I have no where near enough salt...Note to self: Salt! Thanks!
     
    sec_monkey likes this.
  19. arleigh

    arleigh Goophy monkey

    living an area "not" abundant in water or rain , I have now about 2000 gallons stored in large and small vessels.
    That said water to the chickens would be metered very closely, and having chickens means feeding them too would be well guarded. and I would need to be raising food for them as well .which I do not do as of yet. Though this is wine country when they prep the soil they bring in new soil for the task. the clay here is hard as stone though there is no stone in the soil. none zip nada.
    I have lots of canned food . it's already cooked , has it's own water and can be eaten cold even asparagus .
    the only foods I don't buy and store any more are those that have oils in them, pancake mixes and such . these go rancid with time.
    Peanut butter goes stale and so forth.
    I have beans and rice and other dry foods ,but again these require water and cooking and air tight storage with 02 absorbers.
    I have portioned my dry goods in small bags with 02 absorbers , and put those in larger bags with more 02 absorbers and then in 5 gallon buckets. that way if/when the bucket is opened things remain protected and I can remove a portion with out compromising the rest , I plan to get more rectangular plastic buckets so that in the event I must bug out all the canned goods can be put in buckets and handled that way rather then boxes that will disintegrate in wet weather and make handling a mess.
    Medical supplies need to be put in buckets a well as other things that need to remain dry and organized.
    Inventory for this works best using tape you write on (not the bucket ) that way if one product is removed the tape is removed as well. that and write on the tape the quantity remaining .
    One of the reasons I choose 02 absorbers and packing by portion and in the bucket and not using nitrogen or vacuum is that if there is a fire fight or severe earth quake , and the bucket is compromised , the 02 absorbers will continue working even if a small compromise occurs . there is no back up system for nitrogen leaking out or the vacuum failing .
     
  20. Bandit99

    Bandit99 Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    @arleigh I use the Oxygen Absorbers (OA) also, I prefer the larger ones, 500CC is my minimum, as rather would error on the side of too much than not enough. I use Pickle buckets (food grade buckets) that are used and I get from a local San Francisco Sourdough eatery that is trying to get rid of them. They charge me $1-$2 a bucket which helps me cut costs a bit but of course I must then get the pickle stink out of them. I found that a simple wash and they setting them in the sunshine to do its work is best but have used old coffee grounds also at times. I also use Gamma lids on some of them which are really handy but can get a bit expensive if you are purchasing for every bucket. I only buy them for buckets that I will need to get into now and then. I haven't found a real good source for Gamma lids yet. My Home Depot use to carry them for about $6-$7 but they have now gone to a cheaper version which I do not like so... I am going to look at our WinCo the next time I am around it.
     
    chelloveck, Zimmy and sec_monkey like this.
  1. JC Refuge
  2. JC Refuge
  3. JC Refuge
  4. JC Refuge
  5. Alanaana
    Uploaded by: Alanaana, Mar 1, 2023, 0 comments, in album: Alana's_Adventures
  6. Alanaana
    Uploaded by: Alanaana, Mar 1, 2023, 0 comments, in album: Alana's_Adventures
  7. RJFab
  8. duane
  9. TnAndy
  10. john316
  11. DKR
  12. DKR
  13. apache235
  14. Ganado
  15. alaskachick
  16. Motomom34
  17. Asia-Off-Grid
  18. oldman11
  19. Asia-Off-Grid
  20. Asia-Off-Grid
survivalmonkey SSL seal        survivalmonkey.com warrant canary
17282WuJHksJ9798f34razfKbPATqTq9E7