Monday, March 8, 2010

Rethinking My Approach to Food Storage

I really have spent far too much of my life thinking about this, but once again I have changed my plan for our food storage. At least for our 3 month supply of foods we typically eat. Previously I had based my storage on 12 weeks worth of menus. It was great, because except for some perishables I never figured out how to store, I pretty much could cook anything I wanted to, IF I had my storage complete. Unfortunately, because it was what we usually eat, I never seem to manage to keep it complete.

Now, I'm thinking that wasn't the best approach to begin with. Since the idea is to have enough food for 3 months in the event of a crisis, I really should be storing 3 months of our usual CRISIS foods. In other words, if my world is falling apart around me, I'm not going to be making Korean potstickers and Bolgogi or Southwestern egg rolls, or anything else that is time or effort intensive. So, I am going to pare down my menu. It will now only contain meals that are:

1. Completely storable with no dependancy on perishables.
2. Simple and easy to prepare.
3. With an emphasis on Freezer Meals. Because freezer meals in a crisis are heavenly.

And I want a generator to keep my freezer going if the power goes out. (Is that a sign of finally being an adult if the one material thing you really want is a generator? Or maybe a power washer. I can't decide which I want more.)

By paring down my menus, I'll have fewer different items I am storing and trying to keep tracked of and up to date. I narrowed it down to a 6 week menu, which I am going to triple, so we have 18 weeks worth of food, or slightly over 4 months. That way we aren't below the 3 month target the very next time we have a meal.

I'd like to say I have finally figured it all out. But, I know I will come up with another revision to the plan. Anytime now, in fact.

1 comment:

  1. So funny to stumble on this post today as I have been just devouring this new blog that I found. preparedldsfamily.blogspot.com. She has a million wonderful tips, tricks, links, articles... and gorgeous pictures to drool over, too! I think you're on to something there Nettie. I think so many times we think "earthquake" when we think of being grateful for our food storage. Truth is when we're experiencing our trials and stresses are when that food storage has become a blessing. When our little guy was in the NICU last Fall and then we were just surviving to keep healthy enough not to make him sick... we lived off of our freezer meals. Cooking wasn't a big priority. Anyway... it's great that you think about it and bottom line is you find something that works for you and you do it. Good job!
    -Jessica
    PS. LOL! We got a generator for Christmas a few years ago and I got a power washer (my biggest want at the time!) for Mothers Day last year. Priorities change!
    -J

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