How to Start a Food Storage Simple

Over the course of a few years, living in Hawaii, we received 3 Tsunami warnings & had to leave our home & head to high ground. WOAH the stress. But knowing that I had slowly built up a descent food storage gave me a sense of peace & calmness.

Building a food storage isn’t just for natural disasters. Food storage can help you in times of financial distress as well as lockdown circumstances and more. Being prepared brings peace.

These simples steps help you begin building a FOOD STORAGE:

Begin with items you cook with:
Pasta, sauces, oatmeal, cereal, rice, canned fruit, canned veggies, seasonings, condiments, canned meat/fish,
baking supplies: flour, salt, yeast, oils, sugar, boxed cake, etc.

Not sure how much to buy, use this formula:

Take 10 days of meals- this will be 2 weeks of meals. Don’t forget breakfast and lunches.
Breakdown the recipes by items and compile a list.
Multiple that list by 2 = 1 month supply
6 = 3 month supply
List x 12 = 6 month supply
Etc.

I suggest you work towards getting a 3 month supply. After you have a basic food storage, keep adding little bits here to help it grow.

2 Week Meal Plan

If you can’t think of you own 2 week meal plan here’s an example (I only cook 5 meals, because we leave 2 days at random for leftovers)

(for simplicity: B-breakfast, L-lunch, D-dinner)

Day 1: B-oatmeal & syrup, L -PB & J sandwich w/applesauce, D-spaghetti, sauce, canned beans, frozen corn.
Day 2: B-cereal & milk, L- greek pasta salad: pasta, frozen broccoli, onions, Italian dressing,
D-honey mustard chicken on rice w/canned asparagus & peas
Day 3: B-eggs on toast, L-meat & cheese sandwich w/ canned peaches, D- egg drop soup with green beans
Day 4: B-overnight oats w/Chocolate & coconut, L- tuna salad on crackers w pickles & onions, D- stroganoff/l: ground beef, egg noodles, cream mushroom soup, sour cream
Day 5: B-breakfast burritos: eggs, potatoes, cheese, sausage, L- chicken tortilla wraps w/canned peaches, D- Hawaiian haystacks, crunchy chow neon noodles, mandarin oranges, onions, coconut, peas, veggies
Day 6: oatmeal & frozen fruit, L- Chinese chicken salad: salad stuff, chicken, veggies, soy sauce, sesame oil, sesame seeds. D- gumbo: sausage, shrimp, chicken, can tomatoes, spices
Day 7: B-eggs, toast & tea, L- tuna sandwiches: pickles, tuna, Mayo, D- enchiladas: sauce, green chili’s, chicken, Monterey Jack cheese, tortillas, cream cheese
Day 8: B-granola w fruit & yogurt, L- bbq chicken sliders: bbq sauce, rolls, chicken, D- stir fry: water chestnuts, meat, onions, soy sauce, sesame oil, teriyaki sauce
Day 9: pancakes & fruit, L- taco bowls: rice, beans, meat, veggies, salsa, avocado, guacasalsa. D- shoyu chicken: rice, chicken, brown sugar, Italian seasoning, vinegar
Day 10: B- cereal & milk, L- burrito wraps: black beans, meat, veggies ,salsa, avocado, sour cream. D- Korean beef bowl: shoyu, sesame oil, sesame seeds, red pepper flakes

Take your List of items and do the MATH. Multiply by what you can start with: 1 month, 3 month, etc.

Make your shopping list and go to the store

Here is a shopping list for these meals. I using the app/site called Whisk.com. It lets you all your meals into a meal plan and also adjust the serving size for your family. All these meals & ingredients fit our family size of 8. So go to the site & adjust for your family size. (This is not sponsored..I just thought this was such a cool app/site to use!)

How to START a food storage.

I found some great sites to help you learn how to start a food storage from what to buy to how to store it.

• This site gives step by step with items you should get now!
• This site that teaches you how to start a food storage; where to put it, how to rotate, and all the ins & outs.

Once you get into a habit of buying food storage it’s fairly easy to maintain your food storage.

Comment below what your favorite food items are to stock up on!

Rach