Food Storage for Preppers 101- How I go about it.

And you can use the #10 cans from LDS to build rocket stoves to sell.

Here are somethings I keep in mind when buying my long-term storage food: 1) Cooked whole grains eaten with cooked dried legumes in a ratio of about 3 parts grain to 1 part legumes will combine in the human digestive system to make a complete protein. This vegetarian protein costs far less than canned or freeze-dried animal protein (beef, pork, poultry, seafood, eggs or dairy). 2) White rice is NOT a whole grain and when eaten with cooked dried beans, peas or lentils will NOT combine to make a complete protein. 3) If you plan to have a year's worth of food for one adult, with the intention of feeding that adult 2000 calories per day, that means you must have at least 730,000 calories of long-term food storage for than one adult (check the total number of calories on some of those commercially packaged boxes or buckets of food storage where the label claims it is a month's worth of food -- are there at least 60,000 calories?). 4) Whole grain wheat and rolled oats are two inexpensive whole grains that can easily keep for 20 years if properly packaged and stored and can provide a lot of calories at low cost. 5) If you have an unlimited budget and do not want to eat animal protein but dislike legumes, quinoa grain can provide a complete protein, but it is pricey.

6) Dried pinto beans are typically the least expensive dried legume in the U.S., but to prepare for maximum nutrition those pinto beans should be first soaked overnight and then simmered for about 40 minutes. 7) If your budget allows, dried lentils are the best choice of legumes for ease of preparation -- no overnight soaking and will cook in just 20 minutes. 8) For inexpensive, vitamin-rich, fresh "greens" during the winter a good choice is to sprout wheat grain. Wheat sprouts can be eaten raw as a kind of salad or sandwich topping or can be stir-fried along with re-hydrated dried veggies. 9) To get the best sprouting results from newly purchased bags of wheat grain, first freeze the grain at least 72 hours to kill the eggs of grain-eating insects, let the grain return to room temperature, store directly in 5-gallon buckets (no Mylar or oxygen absorbers) and about once a year, remove the bucket lids and stir the grain to give it good contact with oxygen. Those grains of wheat are really live but dormant seeds waiting to sprout and the seeds need the presence of oxygen to stay alive. It is the combination of warmth and water that activates dormant seeds and causes them to sprout. When stored without oxygen, the wheat seeds will eventually die, but that dead grain can still be ground into flour and be used to make food. 10) It is important to include fats in your food storage because the body uses dietary fat to help absorb vitamins, to keep skin healthy as a barrier against disease organisms and for making the hormones that help regulate many of the body's functions.

11) Pure olive oil and pure coconut oil are two natural vegetable fats that can store up to 4 years if factory packaged in glass or metal containers with metal lids (avoid plastic because oxygen can penetrate plastic) and stored unopened in a dark cool pantry. 12) Avoid including vegetable shortening (hydrogenated fat) in your long-term food storage because its consumption is linked to cardiovascular disease/clogged arteries. 13) Both honey and granulated cane sugar will store forever in a cool, dry, vermin-free location. Both are natural antibacterial agents and can be poured into wounds if you do not have antibiotics. Exception: never give raw honey to infants, toddlers or anyone with a compromised immune system because all raw honey can contain minor amounts of botulism "spores" at a level that is not harmful to healthy adults. 14) Be sure to include salt, dried herbs and spices in your food storage because these will help make bland grains and legumes taste much better. 15) Soy sauce and vinegar will store for years in their original, unopened containers if kept in a cool dark pantry and both can greatly improve the taste of cooked grain and legumes. 16) Make sure you have enough Vitamin C in your food storage meals, Vitamin C deficiency can cause the disease scurvy. The cheapest form of Vitamin C for food storage is ascorbic acid powder. An easily available form of Vitamin C is Tang orange-flavored drink mix, but it must be re-packaged in Mylar with oxygen absorbers if you want it for long-term storage. 17) Expensive #10 cans of gravy powder, cheese sauce powder, tomato sauce powder and freeze-dried meat, cheese and fruit are good for morale when these ingredients are used in meals made mostly with grains and legumes.

18) Dry foods packaged for long-term storage will not be harmed by freezing temperatures. Commercially canned/bottled or home-canned wet food must be protected against freezing temperatures because wet food expands when it freezes and will break the seal on cans and jar lids. If you live where winter temperature can get below freezing, do have a grid-down plan for keeping those cans and jars of wet food from freezing or rely only upon dry food and a way to keep just your clean water from freezing. 19) If you buy commercially packaged boxes or buckets of assorted food storage meals, ALWAYS open the boxes or buckets right away and inspect the contents to be certain nothing is missing and than none of the Mylar bags have punctures or poor seals. 20) You can find your nearest LDS Home Storage Center by checking out their website: www.providentliving.org. Telephone first before you visit to find out what days the center is open and what forms of payment they accept. 21) You can never have too much clean drinking water in storage because all that dried food requires a lot of cooking water. 21) Practice making meals with your food storage and only buy a lot of what you can prepare with a grid-down cooking method and what your family is willing to eat. 22) Never underestimate the morale value of a grid-down, homemade dessert. 23) A safe way for indoor cooking in a small apartment is the one-burner butane stove and enough canisters of butane fuel. Make sure your smoke alarm and CO detectors have enough batteries when cooking indoors during grid-down. And keep a charged fire extinguisher handy.