Posted on 01/02/2009 5:32:49 PM PST by PinkChampagneonIce
One of my resolutions for the new year is to begin a food storage program for my new house. Unfortunately, I live in a very rural area where there aren't any bulk food warehouses. The only bulk foods available are from extremely overpriced health food stores and co-ops. Wal-Mart prices are actually pretty good for canned goods, but I want to buy wheat, barley, flour, oats, beans, etc., in 25# or 50# bags.
Can anyone point me in the direction of good sources for small quantities of staples? I wouldn't mind travelling once a year to pick the stuff up, if it would be worthwhile pricewise. I'm in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area.
I've done a pretty thorough search on the Internet, but feel as if I'm probably missing the best places. If anyone knows where they are, it's going to be FReepers!
Thanks in advance for your recommendations. And HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I’ve been dealing with a company BePrepared.com, and they deliver :)
I know you are looking for minimum price but some of the freeze dried food in cans can be stored for decades, so, though they cost more up front, the ability to buy once every 20-30 years will give you a good supply and peace of mind about not constantly rotating. www.beprepared.com has plenty of FD canned goods and pails and will tell you how to use dry ice and your own pails to make oxygen poor storage for things like rice and beans. You can buy them there as well in aluminized pails vacuum packed.
Water storage is also important and you should learn about pasteurization (which can be done in a solar cooker that you can make yourself).
Everclear??? You don’t plan to drink that do you?
Utah will be 13-0.
G’nite bama.
MAN! Johnson came down wrong, knee’s aint s’posed ta bend that way!
oooww!
he’s done.
Green Jello for everyone!
Looks like our boys proved the BCS rankings are crap, and the SEC isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always been a Tide fan, but my alma mater just took names and proved themselves. Undefeated champions. Take it to the bank.
Sheesh, I forgot, this is a food thread. I bought a case of Spam at Costco... makes the rice and beans a tad more tasty.
The BCS scheme sucks. Undefeateds getting short shrift doesn’t help the NCAA’s image much, imo. of course, all they care about is maintaining their money stream and monopoly over athletics.
This is a food thread? oops. :-]
Bon appeteeter.
btw did you see this?
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=5217103
I finally get to use high gear on the way home!!
Woo Hoo!
Well, ya, I emailed it to you an hour ago.
Yep... as was proven tonight, BCS is economic fantasy, and has NOTHING to do with athletics. Never has, never will.
No, but it makes a very tolerable preservative and sanitizer for things like home canning. Adding a shot of ethanol is also good if you buy large cans or bottles of food and sauces that are prone to spoilage once they are opened.
It is also good for preparing medicinal herbal extracts.
Tabasco is also good at fending off food poisoning. Whenever I eat shrimp, I pre-soak them in Tabasco water, because it seems to be particularly good against the bad bacteria you sometimes find in them and other seafood.
Do you live in farm country? Have you talked to local growers? You can't beat the price at the source!
The bishop’s storehouse is our finest source. After that, Costco and then friends.
One question I like to ask of the neighbors is ‘are you prepared to defend it or move it?’
Here’s my question. I’m willing to stock up on “grains”, “legumes”, etc. but what the heck do I do with it all once I have it?? I found an LDS food calculator that told me how much corn meal, barley, oats, wheat, etc. that I would need, along with amounts of honey, salt, baking soda, etc. What I’m missing is all of the recipes that will help me put it all together.
I can just picture rescue workers coming to our home some time after the SHTF, finding us all dead of starvation with these enormous bins of “grains”. “Poor family. I guess the mom just didn’t know how to utilize all of these staples.”
Thanks for that list of spices. The other day I made an awesome black bean and rice dish with a variety of seasonings, and it made me realize that I also need to have plenty of spices in my food storage pantry.
You probably would need to get an electric or hand mill to grind up the grains if you are getting them whole. Also a Big A$$ Pot (that can be used on various cooking platforms, i.e. fire, gas stove, etc.) since you will need to soak the beans (Lentils are better here since they do not require soaking, but do require lots of water to cook with). Also need to learn how to make a sourdough starter. That is the way yeast was cultivated or created prior to the ability to capture yeast and put it in packages. Same with beer, you can create a yeast cultivator the same way, but the liquid form instead of the doughy form.
Get a rice cooker to cook the rice. The electric ones at Targey are cheap. I am sure you can find one that can go on a stove or fire pit ( Of course that is were the Big A$$ Pot can come into play as well, just put a lid on it). A dutch oven would be good to have as well if you need bake bread over a fire or stove.
Also rice cookers usually have trays on top that you can put veggies in to steam with the rice.
Look here.
Also look into electric or stove top/fire pit Percolators to brew coffee or tea. I think Farberware still makes both. You can also still get stove top Expresso Percolators. You can still find the non electric version of almost any appliance today. It may cost a penny or two and you have to decide if it is worth that or just get the electric and hope you always have electricity.
To add to yefragetuwrabrumuy’s spice list. Costco had big jars of Chicken and Beef Bullion Base/Broth. You know just like those little cubes? This is just the powdered form in a jar.
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