Home Store Planning

My husband and I are gearing up to make a big order of food storage.  Once we do, we will hopefully have at least 6 solid months of food for storage/rotating.  I'm very excited about this, mostly because we live far away from the store, so it will be nice to "go shopping" in my own home when I find we're running low on food, but it's not quite time for the next shopping trip.  Produce is the main thing we run out of.  I try to only go shopping every 1.5-2 weeks in order to keep the budget under control and to save on gas.  Produce just doesn't last that long, and especially in our desert house which we keep at a cool 78 degrees at best, so it will be so nice to have our freeze dried fruits and veggies to tide us over to the next shopping trip.  That's one thing I love about freeze dried, and even some dehydrated fruits and vegetables--I feel completely comfortable substituting them for fresh produce because I know we are getting the same nutrients and taste as if we are using fresh.  It's also a lot quicker to prepare since I don't have to clean and chop the food myself :) 

Anyway, there is a great printable planning guide, or "shopping list", for buying food storage that Shelf Reliance just came out with.  This is different than their also cool Food Storage Calculator.  The shopping list is actually quite simple, but it is really helping me to organize my thoughts and figure out exactly what I should buy.  Before discovering the helpful tools that are out there, specifically Shelf Reliance's planning tools, I had a hard time deciding what to buy and ended up buying a lot of random food storage products I would never actually use.  This "shopping list" helps you take a look at what food you normally eat and buy food storage that coordinates with it.  This way, you are only buying food you will actually use, and therefore, not throwing away your money!  It is based off the common food storage motto:

Store what you eat, eat what you store!

So, if you check out the link you will find it has 5 main boxes for you to write lists in.  I will list it below as well as an example of what my list looks like.  

THRIVE Foods my family could snack on

Freeze dried fruit (strawberries, bananas, raspberries, blueberries, mangoes)

Freeze dried yogurt bites

Freeze dried corn (seriously, it's delicious!) and peas

Freeze dried ice cream

Foods that take a long time to prepare (defrosting, chopping, cooking, etc.)

Chicken

Ground beef

Roast beef

celery

onion

carrots

potatoes

Foods I commonly throw away

Spoiled fruits and veggies

Unused/spoiled/left over meat

Expired canned fruits, veggies, beans

Eggs

Foods I commonly run out of

Fruits

Veggies

Milk

Butter

Eggs (I know I just said I sometimes throw them away.  It depends on my menu at a given time)

Cheese 

Meat

My Family's Favorite Meals (Foods available through Thrive marked with *)

The format is much nicer on the link, FYI

• Chicken Salad:  celery*, onions*, grapes*, chicken*, mayo, salt*/pepper
• Pot pie:  flour*, corn*, peas*, green beans*, carrots*, potatoes*, onions*, milk*, butter*, bouillon*, seasoning
• Chicken Noodle Soup:  Egg noodles*, corn*, peas*, green beans*, onions*, carrots*, chicken*, bouillon*, seasonings
• Beef Stew:  flour*, celery*, carrots*, onions*, potatoes*, beef*, bouillon*, spices
• Pizza:  flour*, peppers*, tomato powder*, pineapple*, cheese*, sausage*, spices
• Hamburger soup:  rice*, corn*, peas*, beans*, onions*, potato*, carrots*, cheese*, ground beef*, bouillon*, spices
• Beef Stroganoff:  egg noodles*, mushrooms*, onions*, milk*, sour cream*, flour*, bouillon*, spices
• Cereal/oatmeal:  9 grain cereal* or oats*, sugar*, strawberries*, raspberries*, peaches*, blueberries*, salt*, milk*
• Pancakes:  pancake mix*, blueberries*, butter*, sugar*

So, there is just a sampling of the list I made to plan my purchase(s).  Once I have finished my meal list, I plan on going to the food storage calculator to help me figure out a general idea of how much of each item to get and make sure it is enough for the time period I decide on.  

I encourage you to sit down and take a look at what you would benefit from when it comes to food storage so you can be confident that it will benefit you no matter your circumstances.  I am all about being prepared for disaster, but hopefully we won't need it for that and can simply use it to supplement/replace what we usually eat and make life a little easier.  

If you are currently working on your storage and looking to buy food or emergency supplies in the near future, then check back in the next day or so to learn about my Birthday Giveaway (no purchases necessary) as well as my awesome "Birthday Party", which I am so excited to share with all of you!  Those who participate in the party will get THE best deals possible.  If you find a better one let me know, because I'll be all over it, but I really doubt you will!