A prepper reveals what she keeps in her pantry — and what you should have, too

greeneyes :" My biggest downfall is the list—I made and lost it. Went through and wrote it all down again and lost it again.
I was going to put it on the computer, but lost it before that happened."
" A list would be better-but I don’t seem to be able to keep track of that."

Might I suggest a clipboard for the lost, hung on a cup holder hook, in close proximity to the pantry ?
That way, you can adjust the inventory as it is removed, or re-supplied.
Because it is conveniently located and readily available, your inventory will continue to be accurate..
and it would eliminate any surprises.
The clipboard is more convenient than the computer, and it won't fail you if the power goes out.

I would list:
food ..- ..# of cans/jars.. - ..date of purchase/canned..-.. date of expiration/use

Clip board was where the list was going to go once it was finished and in the computer. So I do have the long term storage in the computer, but not the rest and I realized that was going to be something I wouldn’t keep up with for the rest— So what I have done is I have planned 2 weeks of meals, and a monthly plan. The 2 weeks are our favorite recipes.

Buying by the case works out well. For example-our monthly plan calls for fish once a week. So if we buy 4 cases of 12. The fish is one case each of Salmon, Tuna, Clams, and Shrimp. So that’s 48 weeks-nearly a year. My storage space is set up with designated spaces for canned soups-at a glance, I can tell what needs replenished-it holds 2 months at a rate of one can of soup daily. Ramen noodles add a month of soup daily. These would be supplemental to the recipes.

If we have extra people, the tuna becomes tuna noodle casserole, and the rest becomes bisque, chowder, or salmon/or crab cakes. So I have a current working space of these cans and on the right hand side, is the new cases. When I’ve used a case, I shift a case from the right over to the left and reorder —if there’s a sale before hand, I’ll go ahead and buy a case then.

We have a tendency to use the clams and shrimp more often because we like my chowder and bisque that I make in the crockpot. So I actually bought 2 extra cases of clams and shrimp.

Similarly, we stock 4 cases of mixed vegetables, tomatoes, and green beans, and a case each of pinto, kidney, navy, and chili beans. Then there’s the home canned stuff-pickles, beets, green beans, dill green beans, meats 2 cases each of beef, chicken, pork roast. The chicken is in quarts the rest in pints. And I have dehydrated potatoes from our gardens. I keep 12-18 cans of Dak Ham and Canned Chicken Breasts for Chicken Salad.

Really it’s kinda like supermarket shelves. Everything on the right in the dark corner is new stuff. All the stuff on top shelf is light weight paper stuff. That holds a years worth of T.P. and Paper towels. The rest is paper plates and cups, plastic spoons etc.

All the soups are grouped together, and stacked. Each stack is 12 cans of one type of soup. The bottom front can has the use by date written on the label in magic marker—and is the last one to be used. We stock 6 different canned soups and 2 different ramen noodles-beef and chicken.

It’s taken quite a bit of time to accumulate and get the system going, but it works pretty well. Someday, I’ll have to double check the computer for the long term storage-Not sure I added my last shipment. A lot of that is upstairs under the beds and in the guest room closet-until we get the root cellar built, then we can shift the long term to our basement area where we currently have taters and stuff .

I really figure the kids will inherit our long term storage. LOL

So when we make a grocery list, I can talk a walk around that room and see in less than 5 minutes what I need to put down on the list or order.

First Rule of Prep Club: You do not talk about Prep Club.

Second Rule of Prep Club: You DO NOT talk about Prep Club.

Third Rule of Prep Club: Someone says SHTF, do a shot.

Fourth Rule of Prep Club: No more than two to a bunker; one of them must be a buxom blonde co-ed for repopulating the species;

Fifth Rule of Prep Club: Only one BOL at a time;

Sixth Rule of Prep Club: No tie-dye shirts, no socks with sandals, no Birkenstocks, no vagina hats;

Seventh Rule of Prep Club: Prepping will go on as long as it has to;

Eighth Rule of Prep Club: If this is your first time at Prep Club, you HAVE to buy all other preppers a shot.

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