Family-Sized Readiness!
The idea of being prepared has again come and gone, and come back again. It's an ongoing thing! Since doing this, I had come across a website about feeding a family of four for $300/year. The information provided has helped reshape my pantry and my grocery bill! I have also decided that I don't need to buy a full year's supply at once! A bag each of rice and split peas, here and there, works wonders! :D I have even switched to using brown rice for myself. Cooking the brown rice and split peas together works out perfectly! I have finally found a big bag of brown rice for sale at a reasonable price at a local store! If you build a sad, nearly useless camp fire like I do, instant rice might be better in your emergency stash! Or instant oats which need NO cooking! :p I am working on improving a lot of essential skills!
My brown rice and split pea mix has seen many variations. I have added all kinds of combinations of herbs and or veggies, maybe some bouillon, but have also taken it towards a dessert with added fruit, spices, cream cheese, chocolate, (apple/cinnamon instant oatmeal packs; 2 pks per 1 c of rice/beans cooked with 2c water, and then drizzled with caramel sauce - don't judge me!), ... If you're looking to exist on the very basic of basics, you have to find ways to diversify, or risk growing tired of it, very quickly!
Previously posted on this topic:
Every now and again, the idea of being ready for disaster goes through the mind. I was looking at some websites and really liked what I saw here, or here, except...
Solution? Every aspect of life tends to be a work in progress. Here's what I have so far...
Start with a container. Remember that paper and cardboard don't like water. If all you have to start is a cardboard box, that's fine, but try to upgrade to a laundry basket or a plastic or metal pail as soon as you can. Even dollar stores carry both! A rolling suitcase can work well, too, and is what I'm using! I bought mine at Sharyn's of Simcoe, on Robinson Street - she's got the best prices! If a laundry basket might be the right size, but could collect pet hair, lining it with an emergency blanket is not a bad idea! Even lining a pail is a good idea - help keep the dust bunnies out! Consider washing the blanket from time to time! We will be talking about food here, too! :)
From the first shared website, I did notice consideration of the national food guide, sort of.
I didn't purposely buy extra food for this project, but what I did buy that can be considered...
Water:
Have enough for each person, in sealed bottle(s) for drinking and brushing teeth. Don't chance it - if it's going in your mouth, buy it pre-bottled, keep it out of sunlight, rotate your stock occasionally, and only open it when you need it. You can also bottle your own for basic cleaning/sanitation. This too should be rotated occasionally, to prevent build-up of unwanted nasties (algae, bacteria, etc). When rotating it, you can always use this water for your garden, laundry, cleaning, etc., so you're not just wasting it. The big 10L jugs are handy for this! The CDC also has some helpful tips. You might want to print them off, in advance, and add them to your emergency supplies. You can also add some tea bags to your stash, in case you can only handle so much plain water. Some herbal teas taste better with cold water than others. One of my favourites is Tetley's Pina Colada tea, though most fruit-based teas are really good.
Fruits and Vegetables:
Some produce can last three days or more, without refrigeration. I have a separate box / container for the fresh produce, for easier rotation. Produce definitely needs to be rotated, but is certainly also a great idea for healthy options, even in emergencies. Right now, I have apples, oranges, bananas, and carrots. If it's not refrigerated at the store, it will be ok at home, for a few days or so. Try to have just enough that you can use it up before your next shopping trip so you can always have fresh on hand. Since we're already talking about produce, here, it's not a bad idea to have some packaged or canned, on hand to keep in your stash. Ideas include fruit salad or canned fruit, apple sauce, juice boxes or bottles, fruit leathers, dried fruit (figs, apples, bananas, dates, prunes, apricots, raisins, cranberries, cherries, blueberries, etc), canned veggies, vegetable cocktail, and wine. The small juice bottles have resealable lids and can even be refilled if necessary. Be careful of how often you refill them or how long you keep them, though, if you are not able to properly wash, sanitize, or refrigerate them. They're also handy for making single servings of cold tea! Wine might be a strange thing to consider, here, but remember, its alcohol content can also be used to help keep food products safe from harmful bacteria, especially when you don't want to add/consume sanitizing toxins like bleach. You can put some in your food, water, juice, etc. Salt and/or vinegar will also kill harmful bacteria, to a lesser degree.
Grains:
Bread will keep for a few days, so some is fine. Other than that, the easiest to keep on hand is some quick or instant oatmeal! It keeps almost forever and can be made, even with cold water, into porridge for any meal of the day. Make a basic porridge and treat it as if it were a breakfast cereal, rice, pasta, or dessert. Add some fruit, veggies, meat, maple syrup, nuts, flavoured tea, peanut butter, or chocolate chips! Not all at the same time, of course! Other options to keep on hand include crackers, graham crackers, granola bars, healthy cookies, melba toast, ramen noodles, instant rice, popcorn, breakfast cereals, etc. You can make your own cookies and/or granola and rotate them out as needed, as well.
Meat and Alternatives:
Protein is important, but can also be tricky. The healthiest meat products to keep on hand are small cans of tuna, salmon, chicken, turkey, or ham. These must be eaten very quickly after opening as they do not keep without refrigeration, so just enough per meal is ideal. Other great protein sources include nuts, nut butters, nut milk, and canned beans.
Dairy:
Other than powdered hot chocolate mix, most usual dairy products require refrigeration, making this food group specifically tricky. You can buy canned, evaporated, or powdered milk, but there's some other options that you might not have thought of. Almond milk (chocolate or plain) has the same amount of calcium as an equal amount of milk, as well as other essential nutrients. A 1L tetra pack is about the right size to be shared by a family during a meal. If there's none left over, it won't go bad! There are some individual-sized tetra boxes of "milk shakes" available. I don't get past the idea of them very well, but they might be ok in a pinch. There are some canned or bottled shakes, such as diet or meal replacement shakes to consider, and even baby formula works out, though it is expensive and rarely seems to go on sale. A tablespoon of sesame seeds also provides as much calcium as a glass of milk.
Fats:
I just want to include this as it's surprising how useful fats can be. A little bit of fat can go a really long way in satisfying the appetite. Your brain and muscles also need some fats to function properly, so don't starve them! Some peanut butter on crackers or some coconut milk mixed with soup or beverage, and you might even be surprised at how little you can happily live on!
Light and Heat:
Yes, battery operated flashlights and glow sticks are always the safest! The solar patio lights that you can buy could be very handy, too. It is still a great idea to put a couple of candles and some matches in your stash, as well, just in case you need them. Jar or can candles are best. Keep them away from all flammables, children, pets, never leave them unattended, etc. If you don't have a barbecue or if you can't get outside (weather or other danger), a candle furnace can be super useful. Please, don't ever try to build a fire or use a barbecue indoors, unless you have the right fireplace or wood stove for it! Almost every large-scale emergency seems to include at least one story of someone dying because of fire or smoke inhalation or CO2 poisoning. Don't become another statistic! My kitchen stove top is a great place to set up a candle furnace. The top is heat resistant, there's nothing flammable above or around it. The top of my dryer is also good, for the same reasons. I can choose, according to where I'll spend the time with it. A candle furnace might not heat anything up enough to officially cook, which is important with foods like meats or eggs, but it will heat up some water enough to make some hot tea, or instant foods such as oatmeal, rice, noodles, etc.
Non-Food Items:
Other items include bandages, (or an entire first aid kit), rubbing alcohol and/or peroxide, plastic or rubber gloves, note pad, pen/pencil/marker(s), basic sewing kit, emergency blanket(s), hammer, hatchet, pocket knife, duct tape, sandwich bags, garbage bags, basic OTC meds (cough/cold/headache), specialty items such as diapers, feminine hygiene products, medical supplies for those who need, a bar of soap, cotton swabs, toothpaste and toothbrushes. Keep prescription meds handy as not everyone has access to extra to pack away. A wee bit of cash/coin might come in handy, an extra can opener, some paper plates and cups, and some plastic cutlery.
Bringing It All Together:
As it stands, now, there are four of us and our cat, in our household. We can keep an extra bag of cat food, handy, by our stash, so it's always there if/when we need it. That makes her the easiest to please, believe it or not! :) For us humans, an ideal emergency food kit is for 72 hours (three days) x 4. Upon studying the disaster ready food kit jars, there are 1-2 servings of fruit per day and almost no vegetable content, so anything better than that is just bonus! With that in mind, basic minimum is:
Fruit: 12-24 servings (3x4 to 6x4)
current fresh servings are sufficient, plus a large bag of raisins, some fruit cocktail, and juice bottles
Vegetables: 28-40 servings
current fresh servings are sufficient, plus we have some canned and dehydrated mixed veggies. Depending on a few variables, even your frozen veggies will keep for a day or two, even if you don't have any refrigeration. Do try to keep them insulated/cool if you can.
Grains: 48 servings
25 servings (1 kg) of instant oatmeal, 8 servings of ramen noodles, 13 servings of graham crackers (one box), and multiple loaves of frozen bread
Meat: 20 servings
9 single cans of tuna, 33 servings (not quite 1 Kg) of peanut butter. I do have a can of haggis - imagine the reaction!
Dairy: 12 servings
Hot chocolate mix (1 can = 17 servings)
Extras: tea bags, a can of coconut milk, and a bottle of wine. I have room in each of the boxes to put many of the non-food items while still allowing easy rotation of the items that need to be rotated quickly and gradually.
- It might be too costly for some people to have to put together
- Glass jars - not always sensible
- It's not easy to rotate the foods - even "non-perishables" should be rotated
- Selection is very dependent on processed foods
- There's four of us, plus a cat! Emergencies tend to be time-sensitive! I suppose each person could be trained to get their own jar in a hurry, but that would most likely make rotating the foods even more difficult
Solution? Every aspect of life tends to be a work in progress. Here's what I have so far...
Start with a container. Remember that paper and cardboard don't like water. If all you have to start is a cardboard box, that's fine, but try to upgrade to a laundry basket or a plastic or metal pail as soon as you can. Even dollar stores carry both! A rolling suitcase can work well, too, and is what I'm using! I bought mine at Sharyn's of Simcoe, on Robinson Street - she's got the best prices! If a laundry basket might be the right size, but could collect pet hair, lining it with an emergency blanket is not a bad idea! Even lining a pail is a good idea - help keep the dust bunnies out! Consider washing the blanket from time to time! We will be talking about food here, too! :)
From the first shared website, I did notice consideration of the national food guide, sort of.
I didn't purposely buy extra food for this project, but what I did buy that can be considered...
Water:
Have enough for each person, in sealed bottle(s) for drinking and brushing teeth. Don't chance it - if it's going in your mouth, buy it pre-bottled, keep it out of sunlight, rotate your stock occasionally, and only open it when you need it. You can also bottle your own for basic cleaning/sanitation. This too should be rotated occasionally, to prevent build-up of unwanted nasties (algae, bacteria, etc). When rotating it, you can always use this water for your garden, laundry, cleaning, etc., so you're not just wasting it. The big 10L jugs are handy for this! The CDC also has some helpful tips. You might want to print them off, in advance, and add them to your emergency supplies. You can also add some tea bags to your stash, in case you can only handle so much plain water. Some herbal teas taste better with cold water than others. One of my favourites is Tetley's Pina Colada tea, though most fruit-based teas are really good.
Fruits and Vegetables:
Some produce can last three days or more, without refrigeration. I have a separate box / container for the fresh produce, for easier rotation. Produce definitely needs to be rotated, but is certainly also a great idea for healthy options, even in emergencies. Right now, I have apples, oranges, bananas, and carrots. If it's not refrigerated at the store, it will be ok at home, for a few days or so. Try to have just enough that you can use it up before your next shopping trip so you can always have fresh on hand. Since we're already talking about produce, here, it's not a bad idea to have some packaged or canned, on hand to keep in your stash. Ideas include fruit salad or canned fruit, apple sauce, juice boxes or bottles, fruit leathers, dried fruit (figs, apples, bananas, dates, prunes, apricots, raisins, cranberries, cherries, blueberries, etc), canned veggies, vegetable cocktail, and wine. The small juice bottles have resealable lids and can even be refilled if necessary. Be careful of how often you refill them or how long you keep them, though, if you are not able to properly wash, sanitize, or refrigerate them. They're also handy for making single servings of cold tea! Wine might be a strange thing to consider, here, but remember, its alcohol content can also be used to help keep food products safe from harmful bacteria, especially when you don't want to add/consume sanitizing toxins like bleach. You can put some in your food, water, juice, etc. Salt and/or vinegar will also kill harmful bacteria, to a lesser degree.
Grains:
Bread will keep for a few days, so some is fine. Other than that, the easiest to keep on hand is some quick or instant oatmeal! It keeps almost forever and can be made, even with cold water, into porridge for any meal of the day. Make a basic porridge and treat it as if it were a breakfast cereal, rice, pasta, or dessert. Add some fruit, veggies, meat, maple syrup, nuts, flavoured tea, peanut butter, or chocolate chips! Not all at the same time, of course! Other options to keep on hand include crackers, graham crackers, granola bars, healthy cookies, melba toast, ramen noodles, instant rice, popcorn, breakfast cereals, etc. You can make your own cookies and/or granola and rotate them out as needed, as well.
Meat and Alternatives:
Protein is important, but can also be tricky. The healthiest meat products to keep on hand are small cans of tuna, salmon, chicken, turkey, or ham. These must be eaten very quickly after opening as they do not keep without refrigeration, so just enough per meal is ideal. Other great protein sources include nuts, nut butters, nut milk, and canned beans.
Dairy:
Other than powdered hot chocolate mix, most usual dairy products require refrigeration, making this food group specifically tricky. You can buy canned, evaporated, or powdered milk, but there's some other options that you might not have thought of. Almond milk (chocolate or plain) has the same amount of calcium as an equal amount of milk, as well as other essential nutrients. A 1L tetra pack is about the right size to be shared by a family during a meal. If there's none left over, it won't go bad! There are some individual-sized tetra boxes of "milk shakes" available. I don't get past the idea of them very well, but they might be ok in a pinch. There are some canned or bottled shakes, such as diet or meal replacement shakes to consider, and even baby formula works out, though it is expensive and rarely seems to go on sale. A tablespoon of sesame seeds also provides as much calcium as a glass of milk.
Fats:
I just want to include this as it's surprising how useful fats can be. A little bit of fat can go a really long way in satisfying the appetite. Your brain and muscles also need some fats to function properly, so don't starve them! Some peanut butter on crackers or some coconut milk mixed with soup or beverage, and you might even be surprised at how little you can happily live on!
Light and Heat:
Yes, battery operated flashlights and glow sticks are always the safest! The solar patio lights that you can buy could be very handy, too. It is still a great idea to put a couple of candles and some matches in your stash, as well, just in case you need them. Jar or can candles are best. Keep them away from all flammables, children, pets, never leave them unattended, etc. If you don't have a barbecue or if you can't get outside (weather or other danger), a candle furnace can be super useful. Please, don't ever try to build a fire or use a barbecue indoors, unless you have the right fireplace or wood stove for it! Almost every large-scale emergency seems to include at least one story of someone dying because of fire or smoke inhalation or CO2 poisoning. Don't become another statistic! My kitchen stove top is a great place to set up a candle furnace. The top is heat resistant, there's nothing flammable above or around it. The top of my dryer is also good, for the same reasons. I can choose, according to where I'll spend the time with it. A candle furnace might not heat anything up enough to officially cook, which is important with foods like meats or eggs, but it will heat up some water enough to make some hot tea, or instant foods such as oatmeal, rice, noodles, etc.
Non-Food Items:
Other items include bandages, (or an entire first aid kit), rubbing alcohol and/or peroxide, plastic or rubber gloves, note pad, pen/pencil/marker(s), basic sewing kit, emergency blanket(s), hammer, hatchet, pocket knife, duct tape, sandwich bags, garbage bags, basic OTC meds (cough/cold/headache), specialty items such as diapers, feminine hygiene products, medical supplies for those who need, a bar of soap, cotton swabs, toothpaste and toothbrushes. Keep prescription meds handy as not everyone has access to extra to pack away. A wee bit of cash/coin might come in handy, an extra can opener, some paper plates and cups, and some plastic cutlery.
Bringing It All Together:
As it stands, now, there are four of us and our cat, in our household. We can keep an extra bag of cat food, handy, by our stash, so it's always there if/when we need it. That makes her the easiest to please, believe it or not! :) For us humans, an ideal emergency food kit is for 72 hours (three days) x 4. Upon studying the disaster ready food kit jars, there are 1-2 servings of fruit per day and almost no vegetable content, so anything better than that is just bonus! With that in mind, basic minimum is:
Fruit: 12-24 servings (3x4 to 6x4)
current fresh servings are sufficient, plus a large bag of raisins, some fruit cocktail, and juice bottles
Vegetables: 28-40 servings
current fresh servings are sufficient, plus we have some canned and dehydrated mixed veggies. Depending on a few variables, even your frozen veggies will keep for a day or two, even if you don't have any refrigeration. Do try to keep them insulated/cool if you can.
Grains: 48 servings
25 servings (1 kg) of instant oatmeal, 8 servings of ramen noodles, 13 servings of graham crackers (one box), and multiple loaves of frozen bread
Meat: 20 servings
9 single cans of tuna, 33 servings (not quite 1 Kg) of peanut butter. I do have a can of haggis - imagine the reaction!
Dairy: 12 servings
Hot chocolate mix (1 can = 17 servings)
Extras: tea bags, a can of coconut milk, and a bottle of wine. I have room in each of the boxes to put many of the non-food items while still allowing easy rotation of the items that need to be rotated quickly and gradually.