[VexedAngel]

I'm just wondering if anyone has a list that they reference when building a pantry/freezer food stockpile? I know there are several out there--it's a little overwhelming so thought I would ask if there were any good ones you guys liked to narrow my field a bit.

Right before the lockdown, I did a big grocery shop where I planned a week's meals, then bought four of everything, so we had a month's worth of food. That saved our butts, quite literally, as we figured out how to buy food while locked down. So every once in awhile, I'll buy four of something I see that's a decent price or I"m already buying some for that week's groceries. But this is haphazard and I think I need to get more structured about it. I tried to make a big pantry reference list from a blog, but I ended up with 8 cans of breadcrumbs, and I don't even really use breadcrumbs!

 

[Contrary Housewife]

I keep 2 lists. One is what I already have in the pantry and freezer. It's not 100% complete, but it's a good list of what's available.

The other list is what meals I'd like to make, favorite recipes, etc. I try to match key ingredients to the pantry list first. From there you can make a list of "needs".

I don't have a standard list of items to buy every week, but I have a good idea of the kinds of things we like to eat. A list from a blog is a place to start, but you'll adjust it and personalize it over time.

Coming up with a 7-day menu plan and buying 4 of everything was genius. If you can find 7 more meals, you have a month's worth of meals, only repeating twice. And if some of those meals are big pots of soup or chili, you only make it once, and freeze the extra for the 2nd meal.

 

[hikr00]

I pulled up this link with some good info including things like remembering to stockpile medications you could potentially need like Tylenol, Tums, Band-Aids, Neosporin etc.

The way you did it with buying four of each item was a good idea. But yeah, I use breadcrumbs so rarely it would take me a lifetime to use up eight containers! Lolol.

Similarly to what Contrary Housewife said I know basically what we need for a week for the most part. I mainly try to keep approximately a two to three month supply of food. Decide how long you want your food supply to last and how many people in your family that you’ll be feeding and choose your amounts from there.

Food | Ready.gov

Consider the following tips when putting together your emergency food supplies. Suggested Food Supplies Food Safety and Sanitation Cooking Managing Food without Power Following a disaster there may be power outages that could last for several days. Stock canned foods, dry mixes and other staples...

www.ready.gov

 

[MaggieTru]

Every list I try isn't what I eat so I tend to go through old grocery receipts and see what I like to buy even when the pantry is "full". Those are the things I should probably stock up on. Having a pantry full of stuff you and your household don't eat doesn't really work. I've tried it...

Maybe just buy double or triple of the storables/dry goods as you shop for the next few months like for a month, double up on coffee or whatever you drink that stores well, then grains (flour? pasta? oatmeal? wheatberries?), then the next thing.

The frugal gazette has a good list and I like the simple, pencil and notepaper based, tracking system to make sure one is actually using the pantry stock. Someday I might even USE the inventory system...

 

[jettsmom]

There really isn't a good list for what to store. I used to store everything on those lists and found I threw half of it away, because it isn't what we eat. The best thing to do is make a month of meal plans and store what you would need to make those. For me, I have lots of rice, oats, pasta, flour and sugar, spices, oil. I only store canned vegetables that we eat, as well as cream soups for casseroles and regular soup. Canned tuna and chicken. That has been the best system for me. I've only thrown a few things out over the past couple of years because we didn't use it.

 

[rujerro]

Jetts- I agree. I saw the LDS list on what to store for a 3 month supply. I attempted it with good intentions but i can't keep 100 lbs of grains, 16 lbs of beans and so on....A lot of it we don't eat.

I did alot of stockpiling last year and currently get a few items on occasion . I think I will be short on something at some point, though. DH still refuses chickens and I have frozen dozens of eggs instead. I could probably use more canned goods like soups/cream of soup/tuna/stews/meats. I like keeping gravy mixes to add flavor over bread/potatoes/meats/veg.

 

[Contrary Housewife]

Most of what I buy on a weekly basis is not on one of those stockpile lists. I get bread and dairy products, fresh vegs, eggs, and snacks/lunch items for DH. Most is highly perishable.

I don't use dry milk or dried eggs, and wouldn't know what to do with wheat berries. I don't keep gallons of oil or large cans of shortening around because we don't use that much, and it goes rancid. Likewise I don't keep a lot of flour on hand, usually one bag, because I don't bake a lot and it gets buggy. Packaged cake mix and the like goes flat (the baking powder loses its efficacy) so I don't buy many of those either.

Things I do keep: canned tomatoes and beans, some soup ( I prefer bullion paste), some canned vegs and fruit, peanut butter, pickles, condiments (like salsa and bbq sauce), cereal, rice and pasta, tuna, coconut milk, tea and coffee, breadcrumbs, crackers, nuts, dried fruit, and laundry detergent. I try to keep one extra pack of paper towels and TP on hand, because you never know when there'll be a world pandemic.

 

[marthamfi]

yep I usually keep track of sales more since then you can stock up on deals for stuff you use the most. part of my budget. I don't get all that flour etc because don't bake enough and we are close to lots of stores so we don't have to worry about being cut off for weeks. but have extra food in the house for at least a couple of weeks.

 

[knotme]

one of my favourite sayings is.... Eat what you store, store what you eat and rotate, rotate, rotate.

this is a great idea so that if you do have to live solely on your stock pile, you are using things you already eat and like. trying to use dried beans if you've never done it before or don't like how they cook up or whatever, makes a situation where you have to rely on those things pure torture

 

[marthamfi]

good time for after xmas clearance sales. jan usually brings deals on basic items.

 

[dlrcpa]

I read recently you can sub 1 envelope of gelatin (reconstituted w/ a couple TB hot water) for an egg in baking. I have some old packets to try this with.

 

[VexedAngel]

Thank you for all the ideas!!

 

[dlrcpa]

Volume of the food also affects storage. Boxes of breakfast cereal take a lot of space vs canister of oatmeal (if you are willing to eat it.) Some types of pasta take more space due to shape, spaghetti and orzo are very compact. Don't forget items like trash bags, foil & saran, laundry detergent, etc.

 

[Spirit Deer]

I think it helps to consider what type of emergency you're stocking for. Obviously, it would not make sense for us here in northern Minnesota to lay in supplies for a hurricane when our most likely natural disaster is wildfires. Planning for extended unemploment is going to be different than stocking for extended power outages, etc. And stocking for extended power outages in winter is going to be different than summer, maybe, depending where you live. The various potential disasters are endless.

It only makes sense to stock what you eat, with possible exceptions. In my case, I prefer frozen vegetables over canned, for the most part. But I do stock canned veggies and have recipes we like which use canned veggies in order to use them in a timely manner. An example is three bean salad, where soft canned beans are preferable over al dente frozen beans. Having recipes we like or we're willng to eat made with canned goods instead of our first choice of fresh or frozen makes it easier to stock the right things.

Stocking things like dry beans may make sense if you like beans. If you don't know how to cook them, you can learn before you need such a skill. It's easy with a pressure cooker, either electric or stove top. The skills you need to learn depends on the disaster you're preparing for. IMO, learning new ways to prep food goes hand in hand with stocking the food itself. If you have food but the power is out and all you have are electric appliances and no knowledge or equipment for alternative cooking methods, then what?

 

[RedSpruce]

I never really had to stock up before we moved into hurricane country. Now I try to stock up for at least 7 days without power. We had our first test with Hurricane Fiona. We lost power for18 hours. Thankfully most of it was while we were sleeping, because I discovered a lot about cooking on a butane stove. Also, that just because the package says it’s convenient, doesn’t mean it is! From now on I’m opting for non-cook meals and options.
As for those pantry lists? I’d toss them. I’ve looked at several over the years, and tried some. But honestly, as the others have said, store what you eat. Look at an average week’s meals…the recipes. What’s in the recipes that stores well? That’s what you put in storage.

 

[to the max]

my husband buys it ..brings it in...puts it away..then i just refer to his remembrance of where..ha!

 

[EmilyB]

I have a chest freezer that I use for stockpiling. I buy a little extra meat each week and it's slowly filled the freezer over time. During winter I make extra batches of soups and bone broths to put into the freezer too. Lockdown taught us that we can't be so reliant on nipping to the shop when we're out of something. It's always a good idea to have extra on-hand! We also added an extra pantry in our garage where we keep non-perishables. I feel much more prepared than I did pre-lockdown!