Step 1: Choose seven to nine of your family's favorite recipes.
This is one of the reasons I was so excited to get my Family Favorites Recipe Book project completed. My recipes are all compiled in one spot for easy access and meal preparation.
Step 2: Choose one recipe at a time and purchase the ingredients for three months worth of that meal.
I started with my Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe. If I fix it once a week for three months, that would be 12 meals. So then, I multiply each ingredient times twelve. The recipes calls for one can of diced green chiles, so I need 12 cans. The ingredients include three cans of chicken broth, so I need 36 cans for twelve meals. Simple, huh?
I was trying to wait for my food storage items to go on sale, but I found I wasn't getting anything done. Now I just go to the Walmart around the corner or Costco and purchase what I need. I still shop the sales, but I want to work faster.
Step 3: Store it all together in one place.
I have shelves in my food/cold storage rooms, so I'll put each meal on one shelf and label it. That way, I can "shop" for my items and they're all in one spot.
By storing specific family favorite meals, it's easy to rotate my storage because we eat them often. I have items like dehydrated onions and spices in bulk for multiple recipes. Of course I'm also purchasing things like cereal and peanut butter, etc. for other meals. For Ella, we store Grape Nuts. She eats them for every meal and snacks. She even named the stuffed cat we got her after surgery a couple of years ago, Grape Nuts. :)
We had a yard sale awhile back and made $600 (wow!). We decided to use it for food storage. We also allocate $50 of our grocery budget each month specifically for food storage.
Just keepin' it simple. :)
Loved this idea. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteLisa
I agree, food storage is slow. I started using some freeze dried food for ingredients. This way, I am not rotating nearly as much, and the meats are actually easier to prepare anyway.
ReplyDeleteThis is brilliant:) For ages I've been been wanting to start a food storage but have been putting it off because it was too overwhelming.
ReplyDeleteSince reading this blog I've decided to just concentrate on a week's storage.
Also, people kept telling me to only buy items when they're on offer, but a lot of times they weren't on offer so I ended up not buying anything! I'm now gonna buy items when I want!!!
If possible please could you do more articles on this?
I'm with you, Jelly. As long as you're making progress on your food storage you can feel good about it. The "big picture" gets a little overwhelming for me. You'll be surprised at how quickly a week at a time will add up! And yes, I'd love to share more food storage ideas. Thanks for asking.
ReplyDeleteWe made a three-month supply worksheet for our stake that is based on the same basic concept that you describe. Here is the link if it helps you:
ReplyDeletehttp://iprepared.blogspot.com/2011/08/three-month-supply-worsheet.html
What a great idea! Thanks for sharing your link.
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine used to have a catch phrase: "you build your food storage one case or can at a time". It is such an overwhelming task that a lot of people simply don't do it at all. This is such a great idea for those who need motivation to get started. I always hit case lot sales twice a year and buy a few cases of items we use frequently, like chicken stock, canned beans, canned veggies, etc.....
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ReplyDeleteThank, David. Let me know how it works for you.
ReplyDeleteWill you post more can only recipes if you have them? Thanks!
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