GETTING STARTED PART ONE

I am sure a lot of you will be surprised how much food you have on hand. If you are the type of person who sees something on special at the groccery store and purchase more than 1 to use at a later time and put it in your pantry. then you have begun your food storage! It can be as simple as that. What you do have to do is try and keep that food separate from your everyday food pantry/cupboard.

WHERE DO I STORE IT?

Store it where ever can! Start by decluttering:) I cleaned out my kitchen cupboards and threw away a lot of plasitc containers that didn't have lids or lids that didn't have containers, and I am ashamed to admit I had ALOT!! Now I have space for some of my food storage. I also have inherited a couple of ikea storage cupboards from my parents, which I have to admit have not be put where I want them to be, so are not in use. When it is though, it will be another food storage space, I just hope I get it sorted out soon:) Basically, my message is simple, store it where you can! It can go in storage containers under the bed, a spare shelf in the linen cupboard, under the stairs, in a spare room/study/nursery, don't forget to utilise your freezer, deep freezer, and fridge. It is best not to store in the garage if it can be avoided.

A 3 month food storage plan is made up of food that is not for long term. Long term items are food items that can last up to 30 years or more like wheat. You need long term items, but lets just start with the basics! Your 3 month food items can last up to 2 years or so. You want to make sure the 3 month food storage items are items that can be rotated and used throughout the year. It is not a situation of, I have 3 months food sitting there and now we wait and see if 'something' comes up and we need to use it. If you do this, then you may never 'have' to use it and the food can go to waste. Having food on hand can be helpful not just for difficult times but also when you can't get to the store, or an unexpected bill comes up or you are saving for a holiday. There are range of situations where food storage can come in handy. When you use one of your food storage items, you should replace that item as soon as it is possible.

If you are not the kind of person that purchases 2 or more of a particular item when it goes on special, then you need to become one!! This is the best way to start, make sure though, you are purchasing items you know your family will eat.

STEP 1

Sit down and think about all the kinds of foods you or your family love to eat and beverages they like to drink. Start with one week of breakfasts, lunches, dinners, desserts, snacks, and drinks. Work out how much you will need. Check out the specials for the stores that a near you and keep your list close by so that it will remind you of the things you want to purchase to add to your food storage. REMEMBER when you are purchasing things on special or discount to check the expiration dates. Store your items of longer expiry dates at the back of your cupboards and shorter at the front. You will also need to consider storing items like toothpaste, toothbrushes,floss, toilet paper, sanitary items, shampoo and conditioner, mouth wash, nappies/diapers etc.

Here is a list of some of the items I have stored to give you an idea on where you can start:

Two Minute noodles

Campbells Soup in a can

Tins of diced tomatoes

tins of corn

tins of fruit

Kraft processed cheese

UHT Milk

Jar of semi dried tomatoes

Jar of roasted capsicum

Macaroni and cheese

Evaporated Milk

sweeten condensed milk

Red lentils

Rice

Tin Chickpeas

Tin lentils

Pasta

Pasta sauce

Ritz plain crackers

Bottles of Juice

Bottles of soft drink

Sweet biscuits

Tin of tuna

Flour

Sugar

Chocolate buttons

Oils

Vinegar

Frozen veges

frozen pastry

frozen meat

Betty Crocker cake/brownie/muffin/cookie mixes

Tomato sauce

Mustard

Mayonaise

Wow! When I list it all down, its seems like I have more than I thought I did! I have achieved this by adding a little extra each week and I have been doing this for a little over 6 months. I check out the specials each week at the groccery stores. When the government suppliment payments were going out earlier this year, we decided to put a bit of that money into our food storage which gave us a boost . So you could consider putting some of your tax return money to getting your storage supply kick started. You may find you have a lot of these items on hand already, just go through your cupboards, see what you have, throw out anything out of date and think about what you and the people in your house like to eat.

Do you camp? If you camp, and store a 3month supply of food, you will find that your 3 months supply can be used when you go camping. We don't take a fridge when we camp, just an esky, so its as much non-perishable food as possible. This is how you need to think when it comes to storing your food at home.

Well good luck with step 1. Don't think you have to do step 1 in a day. Take your time, plan and do what you can within your budget. Once you get started and have it on your mind, you will find opportunities coming up all the time to help build up your food storage. Keep coming back here for tips on recipes and if you want help with suggested menus, I can help you with that. I also will also have product reviews on certian items that are perfect for food storage and recipes that you can use with them. I will also be planning a bulk purchase soon so stay tuned for that. Any questions, leave me a comment or e-mail me renrut22@hotmail.com.