PREPS PART 9: FOODS FOR WHEN TSHTF

OK we are all preppers to one degree or another. Some are prepped until doomsday and others are ready for 3-6 months of hardship.

How do you plan on feeding yourself and your family? How do you store food?
What methods do you use? Dehydrating? Canning? Buying ready to eat meals?

Let us know how you manage your stores and what your plan is. What will you do if things never 'get back to normal'?

LilRose said:

OK we are all preppers to one degree or another. Some are prepped until doomsday and others are ready for 3-6 months of hardship.

How do you plan on feeding yourself and your family? How do you store food?
What methods do you use? Dehydrating? Canning? Buying ready to eat meals?

Let us know how you manage your stores and what your plan is. What will you do if things never 'get back to normal'?

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Lady Lilrose;

FWIW

May I offer one *valid* observation about foods to store (in the intrum). It is well noted by those who have studied the subject, that those who are older, and the young (and the childern most especially). Do not fare well on *strange foods* - foods not already consumed in their daily fare.

Let's face it, the experience of TEOTWAWKI is (will be) highly stressing for those still living. To have them also subjected to MREs (and they have never eaten them before). To beans and rice (which they have not main-lined on before TS had HTF).

Would/will be detrimental to their continued health after TSHHTF (remember the stress of everything else in their life having either been destroyed; or else unavailable for a time (likely months or years).

The foods that your family is use to, will be the only likely *anchor*.......

Canned goods - those that your family is familar with (and eat every day). Are by far the best for the near term consumption - with a gradual introduction to the *iron survival rations*....

To do other-wise courts illness and even death.....Among the oldsters and the kids..

Shakey, you are absolutely right. But, many folks here have great plans and it is wise that we all share our ideas...... sometimes other folks offer an AH-HA moment for someone less experienced. Or stimulate someone to plan in a direction never thought of before.

I agree with Shakey. I have arranged my stores into several different groups. Foods that can be used alone: freezedried ready made meals that only take hot water. Ready made retort packed foods from grocery store or other places. Ready made canned foods that need only to be heated up and a vegetable and fruit to make a rounded meal. Home canned ready to heat and eat one dish meals like soup or stews.

Foods that can be used to make dishes quickly: Canned meat. Canned vegetables. Canned fruits. Flour or flour products. Pastas. Spices and condiments. Pickled vegetables. Any or all of these products that are home made or home canned.

Foods that take long preparations: Beans and rice.

These things can be used as the occasion arises. When there is little time for preps, readymade items are used. When there is more time use the beans and rice dishes. Common sense must be used in these circumstances. Intermix all of these groups whenever possible to alleviate appetite fatigue. You don't have to use up all of the ready made meals at one time then move on to less ready meals.

I use dehydrated vegetables all of the time. I am constantly figuring out ways to incorporate them in recipes that I normally use so my family won't be shocked when they have to eat them. I replace anything that I open as I have the money and inclination. I worry about power loss and food spoilage. I know that my freezer will become a "refrigerator" when the power goes. Therefore it gives me a day or so to get everything from the refrigerator eaten or canned before I have to tackle the frozen contents. By that time, things will have started to thaw but with the frozen bottles of water in the bottom, it should hold the cold long enough for me to get it all canned so there is as little waste as possible.

What are your contingency plans?

Mushroom

I plan on soup and sandwiches for the short term. Canned soup can be reheated in a number of ways, and sandwiches can be as simple as tuna on Wasa bread (or crackers), if I've run out of bread.

Chances are, with a number of the emergencies I'd face, I'd have work to do, and attemping a complicated meal over a camping stove is about the last thing I'd have energy or time for.

If I were facing a long term outage, I'd be eating whatever is in the 'fridge, probably cooking it up with either charcoal or propane, depending on several factors. Canned beans along with some franks are another easy meal.

MREs are always my last choice. Even when I camp, I rarely use them. There are much better things (like tuna and chicken in foil pouches) that can be used for no-fuss meals.

If you start thinking along the lines of easy (one or no pots), filling, little (or no) fuel to heat, then you'll come up with a lot of ideas. We aren't in a Martha Stewart Bake-Off. The idea is to fill one's tummy as quickly as possible and get back to whatever needs doing.

LilRose said:

OK we are all preppers to one degree or another. Some are prepped until doomsday and others are ready for 3-6 months of hardship.

How do you plan on feeding yourself and your family? How do you store food?
What methods do you use? Dehydrating? Canning? Buying ready to eat meals?

Let us know how you manage your stores and what your plan is. What will you do if things never 'get back to normal'?

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Just love your threads LilRose....but some are enough to make Aristotle bite his fingernails.

We store what we eat and eat what we store. With the exception of the more expensive freeze dried products. We open a can of freeze dried to sample. We can tell, then, if it's something we'll want to order more and keep in stock, or make another choice.

We have chickens, and different breeds. Some of the best layers are not good "setters." It would be hard to have them hatch chicks. We have some good "setters," who lay a fair amount of eggs, but, if they have no eggs to set on, will find a suitable rock, golf ball, or whatever they can find to satisfy their instinct. Those good layers won't do you a bit of good if they aren't willing to hatch those eggs and mother the chicks.

The eggs are eaten fresh, frozen, and we dehydrate them, run through a blender and make the powdered dried eggs that are often expensive to buy. They are a deep golden yellow and taste is excellent.

We have a garden that supplies the vast majority of our vegetables. We can, freeze, dehydrate, and store any and all produce. Seeds are heirloom and are saved for the following year. Extra seeds, peels, and vegetables that are not in prime condition are given to the chickens, who in return, seem to leave the prime things alone, and gobble bugs.

We keep a lot of white flour as insecticide. Though it's rare to have a real bug problem, any we've had has been solved by dusting with white flour. Even insects seem to know whats good for them. Don't try it with wheat flour though. You'll have every bug in the county lined up to get their fair share.

Our foods are really for immediate, short term, long term, and longer term. Ultra convenience foods (freeze dried already cooked just add water) are saved for "emergency" situations. As in, chaos all around, have to grab something and leave the house, etc.

Some that we've sampled are cost efficient enough that we use often, and replace. Examples, pancake mix, muffin mix, and honey wheat bread mix for days that baking from scratch are out of the question.

Beans, wheat, rice, powdered milk, corn, corn meal and honey, fit all the categories. They are used constantly and constantly replaced. We store extra of these products for when TSHTF and people are starving. We can offer them a bag and best wishes. Might save our lives and theirs.

We store things in a mylar bag that is sealed and placed in a food storage bucket.
(Don't forget to buy a bucket lid lifter. They are awful to open.) Smaller packages of things like jello, pudding, etc. we seal the ends with cloth duct tape and brush with paraffin. Then they are place in a bucket or storage bin. Bins are labeled with contents and date and entered into a computer food storage program. Makes it easy to check what's been used, and calculates what should be replaced.

We are fortunate to have an entire room that we use for food storage and also have a regular food storage pantry. Seems there's never enough storage though.

Since Splicer and DS are carnivores, once a year we buy half a cow from a local farmer and freeze it. We make jerky which is VERY hard to keep in stock. Would have to lock and place trip wires and security system around it to keep any in stock. We keep enough jars and lids on hand to preserve the frozen beef if it should become necessary.

This is the first year we've tried deer. Splicer couldn't avoid the suicidal deer that jumped from the median into the side of the truck. It was killed instantly, and when he called me and asked if I'd be willing to try processing it, well......not being one to waste. UGH! We now have the poor beast stored and have summer sausage, etc. Enough said about that incident. But it's good to know that if I HAD to, I could process it. UGH! can't be said enough.

As much as I hate the "crisco" type products, we do store some because with all the garbage in them, they'll last a long time. We also store lard, and olive oil in steel containers.

By growing, using, growing some more and replacing, we're seldom in the position of having to buy something at less than sale price. It makes it easier to justify large purchases of coffee, spices, white flour (for bugs), oils, milk, wheat, rice, sugar, and "convenience" things like freeze dried.

If things never "get back to normal," it may be a relief. We haven't been liking what's considered "normal." We'd probably have less time for shopping and more time for cooking, less time for purchases and more time for prayer, less time for criticism and more time for empathy, less time for greed and more time to share.
Maybe even less time for eyeing the newest, fastest, "gizmo" out there, and more time to appreciate what has been used in the past, and how it can be modified for the future. More time to be an example of what constitutes "character," and realizing that the things we've considered so important in life are no longer important. And give thanks that we can finally realize what's really important.

Sorry for the thesis LilRose, but like I said, I just love these threads.

My idea isn't a food item but remember to stock up on baggies and esp alumium foil...You can bake food in the foil and not have dirty pans to scrub. I bake that way all the time.

<SPLICERSWIFE> wonderful insight and great ideas...I would like more info on dehydrating eggs.... is this safe? And when I move to Idaho I will be asking you more info on chickens. I have never raised them but really want to.

I have "long term storage" (over a year) and that is wheat berries, beans (3 kinds), rice, rolled oats, salt and sugars. There is also a fair amount of flour and dried milk that I rotate as much as I can. Since these items are dry packed from Waltons, they will keep indefinitely. Pastas are also a longer term storage item that I put in 6 gal buckets. I store enough for 4 adults for one year as if that was all we would have to eat. That means it will stretch a long ways and have some to share with those not as fortunate.

Shorter term, I usually have a year's worth of canned goods for 4 adults (cutting down to 2 though since the kids are gone) and a freezer full of meat and another freezer full of frozen vege's, tv dinners, pizza, etc. The canned goods are vege's, meats, fruits that we eat all of the time. My recipes are pretty well memorized by the whole family and anyone of the kids could step in and manage to food supply if needed. We no longer have calves to butcher, but I think we will be trying miniature herefords once we get moved. Since we are moving in the near future and finances have been tight, we have been eating down the pantry and it is getting pretty bare. It only took over 18 mos of 3 adults eating to empty the pantry and freezers plus what my DD's came and "shopped" for :lol

We do eat lots of rice and beans (refried and soups) - it just means I will go to scratch cooking more if TSHTF. For us rotating more rice and beans into the diet will be tolerated (maybe not happily, but tolerated ). As you can tell from my statements above, my 1 year of pantry storage, will stretch much further than a year if managed wisely and combined with the long term storage.

I figure that we normally have enough for at least 2 full years or more for 4 adults. That gives us 2 growing seasons to make sure that the garden is producing what it needs to. It also gives us time to get our act together.

Letting my pantry be this empty scares me, but I also know that I have my long term storage - it wouldn't be wonderful, but we wouldn't starve.

Great subject. We keep things that were comfortable eating every day, along with some specialty or "treat" items. Most of the food is easy to prepare, and can be done without a lot of work. We've got canned soups, tuna in the pouches, canned vegies, chili, pastas, canned meats, and don't forget the M & M's and jelly bellies........

One other area where we've been carefull to keep an adequate supply, is in the vitamin and supplement area. For each of us, we have vitamins and mineral supplements. We keep lots of C and B, and make sure theyre fresh (although think they have a several year shelf life). Recently we've also added some whole food supplements, that can be an addition to any meal that isn't quite as wholesome as it probably should be. The stuff were using (for now and later) is called E-7 (Essential7), a powder that tastes like a dutch chocolate hot chocolate. A friend of ours sells it, but its probably available in many other locations. This is her site, for insight on what it is.

http://www.integrisglobal.com/corporate/productDisplay.asp?itemcode=381

We figured that it things are rough, the added nutrition and vitamin supplementation might make all the difference in the world.

suzy

LilRose said:

<SPLICERSWIFE> wonderful insight and great ideas...I would like more info on dehydrating eggs.... is this safe? And when I move to Idaho I will be asking you more info on chickens. I have never raised them but really want to.

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Safe? Heck, I don't know. Never thought about it.
Seriously, your main concern would be Salmonella. Salmonella is a bacteria that needs a favorable temperature, moisture, and time to develop. The egg has multiple barriers to prevent this, from the shell, the shell membrane which contains lysozyme, (helps prevent bacterial infection), to the yolk membrane.

As with any food, cleanliness and proper handling is required. Simple protections like hand washing, non porous utensils, avoiding cross contamination, (not having product in contact with any porous surface that could be holding bacteria) etc.

Though the eggs from the grocery may be fine for dehydrating, I personally wouldn't. The last time I checked, the average time between the hen laying the egg and it reaching the grocery store was 4 months. A lot can happen to an egg in 4 months. There is a protective coating on the egg when it is laid. Processors wash the eggs.Over time, the thick white that protects the yolk turns more liquid and is not as much a protective barrier as the fresh egg. I won't go into all the reasons I personally wouldn't use them from the store, because they are probably quite safe. I just wouldn't.

Our dehydrated eggs are processed within minutes to hours of being laid. Anything they will come in contact with is bleached beforehand and hands are washed. Eggs are sorted carefully and nothing with any chicken waste or any cracked or broken shells are used. Only clean, uncracked, unbroken eggs are used. They are broken into a bowl, whipped, and put on the sheet.

Since the teflon sheet I put them on is flat, I put enough aluminum foil tucked under the edge and make a lip around the teflon. Much like just placing it in a square aluminum square cake pan. It's just to keep the egg from sliding from the sheet. Though most say 115 degrees is the right temp., I use 140 degrees because salmonella can't grow if 140 degrees is maintained for 3 1/2 minutes. (that means the product being 140, not the oven) but, I figure as long as it takes them to dehydrate, it's bound to be 140 for that long. And if you're still concerned, you could put the final product in the oven at 160 degrees. That should kill most any bacteria. I don't do that though and have never had a problem.

The eggs will crust over on the top when being dehydrated and moist underneath. Just break it up and turn it over. I dry mine til they will crumble. Then I put them in a blender and they turn into powder. You want to make sure they are totally dry, though, with no moisture. Then I put them in a mason jar with a tight lid. We use them all winter or when chickens are in molt, and have used them for years like this and no one has ever gotten sick from them. That's not really saying a lot though because it doesn't take much to kill salmonella. I'd trust my year old dehydrated eggs farther than I'd trust store bought "fresh" eggs. I know how the hens were treated, what they ate, what kind of nest they laid in, their health, and that they are free from growth hormones, antibiotics, etc.

And congrats on your move to Idaho. Oooh, you lucky!

Splicerswife, THANKS for the directions on egg dehydration. We have friends who have chickens, and we know what the conditions are. Wouldn't be afraid to try it with their eggs, and your great directions.

suzy

Edited to add: Ok, how do you use them in cooking, or how do you rehydrate them?

suzy said:

Splicerswife, THANKS for the directions on egg dehydration. We have friends who have chickens, and we know what the conditions are. Wouldn't be afraid to try it with their eggs, and your great directions.

suzy

Edited to add: Ok, how do you use them in cooking, or how do you rehydrate them?

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You're welcome, suzy. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do. Usual recommendations are to mix 1 T. egg powder to 2 T. water. This equals one egg. Mine seem better though to add more water, as in 1 T. powder to 3 or 4 T. water.
This is what I use for cakes, cookies, breads, etc.

Usually , though, I don't really measure when we use them for scrambled eggs, etc. Just put powder, add liquid until it looks right, and cook. The best way I can describe the consistency we like is to compare it to making cornbread. If you made your cornmeal too watery where it would pour into the dish like pancake batter, that's what our eggs look like. Cooked in a pat of butter, they turn into a nice batch of scrambled eggs.

When you look at them, you're going to think, "yeah, right." But go ahead and cook them. Magic!

I have a lot of rice, Oodles of noodles, mac and cheese and pasta in icing buckets. Also flour and sugar in plastic zip lock bags inside icing buckets. A variety of canned food(store and home canned). I have the bigger size cans of cream of chicken soup to use to flavor rice or stuffing mix. Quite a few jars of peanut butter and homemade jam, plus crackers taken out of their carboard box and put in zip lock bags inside small icing buckets. Lots of spices and some worchestershire sauce and hot sauce. I'm getting low on a few things and I'm hoping they'll go on sale soon! I also have oatmeal and corn meal, since they're so filling. I freeze any grain type food for a few days before I store it.
I have a small garden every year and can whatever we don't eat. I'm trying to grow different things every year to find out what grows best here. My seeds are getting pretty old. I didn't find any on clearance the last couple years, so I might have to break down and pay full price this year! We also have blackberries that I make wine and jam from. There are tons of them at our camp, but if TSHTF I probably won't be able to get there. We only have a small amount in our yard. I also made elderberry extract from berries near our camp.
If things get really bad I will have a hard time I'm afraid. We have no means of having our own meat, other than what we could hunt in the woods behind the house. And then everybody else in the neighborhood will be up there hunting too. And no where to grow enough to keep us going. There are a few things we could find wild, but there again, not enough to feed the family. We would be ok for a few months probably, but long term is scary!

Dinghy said:

I have a lot of rice, Oodles of noodles, mac and cheese and pasta in icing buckets. Also flour and sugar in plastic zip lock bags inside icing buckets. A variety of canned food(store and home canned). I have the bigger size cans of cream of chicken soup to use to flavor rice or stuffing mix. Quite a few jars of peanut butter and homemade jam, plus crackers taken out of their carboard box and put in zip lock bags inside small icing buckets. Lots of spices and some worchestershire sauce and hot sauce. I'm getting low on a few things and I'm hoping they'll go on sale soon! I also have oatmeal and corn meal, since they're so filling. I freeze any grain type food for a few days before I store it.
I have a small garden every year and can whatever we don't eat. I'm trying to grow different things every year to find out what grows best here. My seeds are getting pretty old. I didn't find any on clearance the last couple years, so I might have to break down and pay full price this year! We also have blackberries that I make wine and jam from. There are tons of them at our camp, but if TSHTF I probably won't be able to get there. We only have a small amount in our yard. I also made elderberry extract from berries near our camp.
If things get really bad I will have a hard time I'm afraid. We have no means of having our own meat, other than what we could hunt in the woods behind the house. And then everybody else in the neighborhood will be up there hunting too. And no where to grow enough to keep us going. There are a few things we could find wild, but there again, not enough to feed the family. We would be ok for a few months probably, but long term is scary!

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Yuum, add some beans and powdered milk and you could have beans and cornbread. Complete protein. Who needs meat? What kind of seeds are you looking for and what time is dinner? Oh, and could you add a little oil to the cornbread. I hate digging it out of the bottom when it sticks.

I make whole wheat bread in a bread machine. (I'm lazy) Discovered by accident that if you use a recipe that calls for butter or oil or something, try the butter flavored Crisco and use honey instead of sugar.

I'm sure there are some thinking UGH, but the bread stays fresher longer, unless you have a family that guzzles it down in one sitting. It has good texture and won't mold as quick.

Guess everything depends on what kind of S Hits the Fan.....

Got cases of soups, chili, raviolis, and other canned goods for bugging out...

For bunkering in, got lots of beans, rice, lentils, etc., and a full freezer, so we can eat as usual....as long as we have electricity. We lose electricity, the fridge and freezer get et down first. Not going to waste precious propane pressure canning things, 'cause I want to reserve my propane for winter cookery.

Seems like the human chowing down default systems (besides grilled critter du chance) are: soups/stews, grain or pulse porridges, and rice with something. The "somethings" are where the garden and canned veggies and meat/fish come in. The cooking style is essentially crockpot cookery (except pasta dishes), adapted to pressure cooking, haybox/cookhole cookery to give the cook max time to do all the -other- chores which are going to be far more time-consuming without electricity.

Not sweating fruits, 'cause I don't like canned fruits, and this area abounds in blackberries, currants, rose hips, and -scores- of apple trees....pluck, eat, there's dessert.

In short, meals would be about the way we eat -now-. Too many slumgullions, and my mate starts crabbing about wanting something to sink his teeth into. Either I'll get a bale of chewsticks for him, or he can go hunt, because if TSHTF, this cook ain't puttng up with whiners.....or there'll be more than fingers floating in Pogonip's Chili......

Splicerswife; I'm so thrilled to learn how to dry eggs; thank you sooo much. One question; are you drying them in the oven or do you use a dehydrator??? Thanks. Any other useful ideas? Do you have a rootcellar? I want to know what will store well in a rootcellar during the winter. Thanks.

Tundra Gypsy said:

Splicerswife; I'm so thrilled to learn how to dry eggs; thank you sooo much. One question; are you drying them in the oven or do you use a dehydrator??? Thanks. Any other useful ideas? Do you have a rootcellar? I want to know what will store well in a rootcellar during the winter. Thanks.

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You're welcome Tundra Gypsy. I hope you enjoy them. I use a dehydrator, but mine only goes to 145 degrees. If you want to be absolutely sure there is no salmonella, after they are finished, you could put them in a 160 degree oven for a couple minutes. But I've never done that and never had any problems.

No, I don't have a root cellar, but would love to have. I've read that about anything can be kept in them in most climates, but have heard of occasions that they got too cold for some fresh vegetables, and that was solved by burying them in sand before putting them in the root cellar. Here's a link that might help. I love reading the old timers pages at Walton Feed. They have some great info there. http://waltonfeed.com/old/cellars.html

We stored winter squash, carrots, and potatoes from last summer in a cool room in the house and are still eating the squash. Cool and dark will keep most things a long, long time. We picked the green tomatoes from the garden the night frost was predicted and wrapped them individually in newspapers. Kept this way, we ate our last fresh tomato on Christmas.

I've been trying to convince Splicer that our cistern would make a better root cellar than a water processor, but so far, he hasn't agreed. Oooh. Root cellar. That would be really nice.

short term: canned pastas, soups, chili, stews, canned veggies, canned fruits

medium term: canned goods to make casseroles and complete meals, flour and cornmeal from breads and tortillas

long term: dehydrated fruits and veggies, buckets of wheat, canned meats, dried beans, lots of rice and pasta

These are what our basics would be. Short term is immediate crisis--no time to cook, conserving energy. Medium term--some time to cook, but not up to cooking all day-this would be when things are a little more stable but there is still a lot to be done. Long term is after all of that and what would form the basis of our diet.

We do store comfort foods-chocolate, cake and brownie mixes, jello and pudding mixes, hard candy, hot chocolate, popcorn and the like. I've tried to get a lot of variety in all areas of food storage, though for long term I am very heavy on carbs as they are the cheapest and easiest items to store.

Bump for the new members...

In order to make sure that everyone in your family will be able to handle the change from daily eating to long term storage cooking.Make those foods part of your regular diet now.Some digestive systems do require time to adjust.


Splicerswife a big THANK YOU on sharing your dehydrated egg recipe.It was quite helpful.

You're very welcome, 1dreadstalker, but it's really LilRose who gets the credit. She did a great job starting these threads and everyone contributed so much. I really appreciate your comment though. It's a great idea you had, too, about making these foods a part of our diet now!

Remember: Nasty food = Nasty morale

My opinion: Don't stock food you don't like just to be stocking food. If you don't like MREs, don't stock them. If you don't like TVP, don't buy it.

These are my theories, which I admit are theory, and I welcome debate on them.

"When you're hungry enough, you'll eat anything." True; but some people will avoid eating the offensive food as long as possible. By the time they get hungry enough to "eat anything" they're probably already weakened and in a bad mood from their low blood sugar levels.

At least it's food! True; but nobody enjoys being forced to eat things they don't like. Bad for morale.

Don't underestimate morale. Tired, angry, depressed, scared, and resentful people don't make good companions or good workers. YOU NEED A COOPERATIVE, WORKING TEAM to get through this disaster.

Demoralized people make bad workers. They get less done.

Demoralized people are likely to express their feelings in inappropriate ways, such as antagonizing or lashing out at those around them. You don't want this when everyone is in close quarters.

Now, let's discuss "Comfort Food."

We all know that certain foods make us feel better. People's eyes light up when they see chocolate cake on the dessert table, or their favorite casserole. We eat certain foods just BECAUSE they make us feel better when we are depressed or sick.

Something bad happens. Mom cooks her family's favorite dinner and everyone sits around afterwards with a full belly, thinking that while this is a bad situation, they can still enjoy a good meal together. This happy feeling turns into camaraderie over the roof repair.

Flip side: Something bad happens. All Mom has is macaroni and cheese, which everyone hates. They eat it, but grumble the whole time, wishing it was fried chicken. Junior asks "What are we having for supper?" Mom says more mac n cheese. Everyone's spirits crash and they shuffle outside.

Which situation do you prefer????



Don't stock food just to stock food; be sure to stock items that you know your family likes and will willingly eat. Surviving a disaster is difficult enough; you can make it a bit easier with good food.

How do you plan on feeding yourself and your family?

I have a 3 part plan.
Part 1 is short term. Items used regularly and purchased monthly.
Part 2 is supplies to last about a year or more. These items are rotated so nothing gets outdated or spoiled.
Part 3 is long term. Seeds, animals, tools etc. so we can carry on forever if necessary.
I'm not totally prepped in all 3 areas, but I'm getting close.
I have alternative methods of heating the house and cooking.


How do you store food?

I have a huge freezer that is now about 1/4 food, and 3/4 bottled water to keep the freezer cold longer if we loose power, and to provide fresh drinking water. I'm slowly converting all frozen foods to canned goods. I like to prepare extra large meals then can leftovers to have "heat & eat" meals on the shelves. I also keep wheat berries, spelt and other grains, to make fresh flour and cereals.


What methods do you use? Dehydrating? Canning? Buying ready to eat meals?

I like to dehydrate meat, veggies, & fruits. I also can them all.


Let us know how you manage your stores and what your plan is.

I keep things all over the place. I don't have one area that's large enough to hold everything. I'm planning to dig a new root cellar next spring, so hopefully most of my stuff will go in it.


What will you do if things never 'get back to normal'?

Depends on the situation. If possible I'll stay right here, grow my gardens, raise my animals, and be happy. If not possible, then I'll take as much as I can (breeding pairs of animals, food, etc.) and fade away into the forest to stay hid out as long as I can. I learned a lot during the years I was in a war between the states reenactor group. I also have interviewed older family members and neighbors to learn how they lived before they had electricity. I've always like learning the old ways of doing things. I'm one of those people who was born 100 years to late.

My two cents

I may be a little biased because of my military experience but MREs are not that bad. I have lived on them for a few 30 day stretches and although they do get old their is good stuff in them...including comfort items which I would eat even with other choices.

But anyways...my plan

If I am staying in place or it is short term, I will rotate through my stocks of what I eat everyday.

If it becomes long term (2+ weeks) or I have to move then more serious problems are also in the works. Lots of other people will be moving or be without food. Because of this I would want to maintain a low profile and MREs are an important way to do this. They all contain heaters now which you can use to warm your food. While propane and boiling water may not attract much attention if you start doing much more than that the sweet smells of food will bring others.

I intend to use a Jetboil to boil water if needed and MREs. They are quick and leave little trace.

But like I said I am a bit more acustomed to MREs and the like so they are not a problem for me. All I know is that if I am in any kind of extended situation, I want to draw as little attnetion to myself as possible, while still being able to have a hot meal a day.

Just my two cents.