Being Prepared - Updated Basic Food List On Page One

Thank you, WhiteAngel!

How about the charcoal which is sold in plant stores? That is made for filtering and not for burning, so I doubt that it would have chemical binders holding it into briquette form.

For those in quake zones - in your supplies you need Crazy glue to seal wounds from glass. Everyone needs it but you can use it to seal wounds. Iodine burns like a SOB but it will clean the wound and a few drops in your water will make it safe to drink.

I love watching survival shows like Naked and Afraid. One of the number one items I have noticed they never have, a pot to boil water in. Get a small campfire safe pot!

Learn to make a fire. Fire is life. Fire is safety. Fire is comfort. Learn many ways to make a fire until you are sick of making fires. I taught my kiddos to make fires using a 9 volt battery and a SOS pad and or steel wool. They thought that was the coolest thing ever and made lots of fires doing it. Learn to make that fire with one match or one flick of your Bic. One time only. Watch videos on how to make fire. Fire is life.

Not being judgmental but, I believe there is a saying "God helps those who help themselves". Yes, I'm a Christian, but I also believe that as much as we need God and Jesus in our lives, we also need to take care of ourselves as well. There is nothing wrong with being prepared. No offense intended.



PS GREAT THREAD WHITEANGLE

CHARLESTONS, SC

Most people think you have to be well off to prepare. That is crap. You can prepare with beans, rice, a few spices, pancake mix that only needs water, a few cans of shortening (lasts the longest), salt, sugar....

For those in quake zones - in your supplies you need Crazy glue to seal wounds from glass. Everyone needs it but you can use it to seal wounds. Iodine burns like a SOB but it will clean the wound and a few drops in your water will make it safe to drink.

I love watching survival shows like Naked and Afraid. One of the number one items I have noticed they never have, a pot to boil water in. Get a small campfire safe pot!

Learn to make a fire. Fire is life. Fire is safety. Fire is comfort. Learn many ways to make a fire until you are sick of making fires. I taught my kiddos to make fires using a 9 volt battery and a SOS pad and or steel wool. They thought that was the coolest thing ever and made lots of fires doing it. Learn to make that fire with one match or one flick of your Bic. One time only. Watch videos on how to make fire. Fire is life.

More water info:

Water is so hard to store and needs so much room, but all the food you store means nothing if you can't have water. Here is my plan, not great but it is what I can do. I have been saving 2-liter soda bottles for a year from our family and friends and have over 100 that are not being used at this point.

Clean them like mentioned above, except you don't need to let them dry out. Fill them with water and put in a drop of bleach, seal and label with the date you filled. Because there is a worry about the plastics, even so called safe ones leaching harmful chemicals into the water, many only store their water for 6 months. I have done enough research that I will store ours for a year or two.

If you do not have a dropper for putting ONE drop of water, you can do what I do. I put a little bleach in a 1/4 cup and dip a thin wooden dowel or skewer in and let it drop one drop into the bottle.

Stored water goes flat and doesn't taste good. When you first open a container of water that has been stored for a year or so, pour it back and forth between two containers to add air back into it. This improves the taste big time!

3.79 liters = 1 gallon, so you have a bit more than a gallon with two 2-liter bottles of water. 50 gallons of water means 100 bottles of 2-liter size, tons of room needed. You can lay they on their sides and stack up.

Note: the bleach needs to be regular house hold bleach with no scents
added and not the splash-less kind either. Just plain old fashion
bleach.

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The next thing I have planned for water is rain catching from my roof. My roof is asphalt and dangerous to collect water off from all the chemicals it will leach so I bought several rolls of plastic drop cloth from Home Depot. It is cheap and you will always need some for something, so make sure you have several extra rolls. I plan to cover my roof before a storm comes in, and make sure the gutters are still cleaned out.

Barrels will be on both ends of the house to collect the water. Take off the bottom end of the down spout and adjust so it goes straight into the barrels. You will want to let the first bunch of rain flow out, just to make sure you are getting clean water.

The web is full of ideas on how to do this, here is one: www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Rainwater...ion-System

If you have acid rain, you can make a two or three part filtration system, letting each barrel trickle down thru sand. Again there are many web sites about this and I will let you do a little research there.

It would be smart if you live in an area that doesn't have natural sand in your soil, to get several bags of "play-sand" so that you can filter your water when shtf.

==============================
Get a water bob for your bathtub.
www.amazon.com/Aqua-Pod-Kit-Emerg...ge+bladder

www.waterbob.com/Welcome.do;jsess...FA67F4C3EC
FYI, the above site is out of stock as were two other sites I went to.

I have seen them at only $17 so they are cheaper than the one above but ti gives you an idea what I am talking about. 65+ (most will hold 100 gallons or more) gallons of clean drinking water is priceless!!!

I had some of that pancake mix that only needs water, factory sealed in those last-until-doomsday cans. Within 6 months they were all bulging. Buy at your own risk.

For what it's worth and i dont know if it has been mentoined but i would add boxes of bullon or veg stock cubes into the list.

Just half a cube into a 2 cup rice/ 1 inch of water cooking pot will give you a flavoured rice that will ensure eating just the basic staples such as just rice can be tasty and filling AND quick n simple and incs salt etc!

Add a cube to veggies and water for a soup or stew etc - lots of flavour from very little space, cost and weight.

Anyway my my 2cents

Walmart sells Augason Farms cans and Emergency Essentials that last 10 years, freeze dried foods, with serving size printed on the label. they deliver.

I added the lid opener.

my old bags of rice were dusted with DE and the bugs didn't get to em, but anything in plastic is vulnerable.

love this thread.
thank you whiteangel.

Hi WA, thanks for keeping this thread at the forefront. Might be a very appropriate time to review your preps............

I was stocking up for 3 months, then 6 months, then 9 months and finally for a year. Since I have a family of 4, the numbers below are what I worked with for each 3 months

GRAINS
150 lbs of Wheat
25 lbs of Flour
25 lbs of Corn Meal
25 lbs of Oats
50 lbs of Rice
25 lbs of Pasta

300 lbs total of Grains

LEGUMES
30 lbs of Dry Beans
5 lbs of Lima Beans
10 lbs of Soy Beans
5 lbs of Split Peas
5 lbs of Lentils
5 lbs of Dry Soup Mix

60 lbs Total of Legumes

FATS & OILS
4 lbs Shortening
2 gals Vegetable Oil
2 qts Mayonnaise
1 qrt Salad Dressing
4 lbs of Peanut Butter

25 lbs Total of Fats & Oils

MILK & DAIRY
60 lbs of Dry Milk
12 cans of Evaporated Milk
13 lbs of Other Dairy

75 lbs Total of Milk & Dairy

SUGARS
3 lbs of Honey
40 lbs of Sugar
3 lbs of Brown Sugar
1 lb of Molasses
3 lbs of Corn Syrup
3 lbs of Jams & Jelly
6 lbs of Powdered Fruit Drink
1 lb of Flavored Gelatin (Jello)

60lbs Total of Sugars

COOKING ESSENTIALS
1 lb of Baking Powder (I don't store for LTS as it doesn't have a long shelf life, 6 months to 18 months only.)

1 lb of Baking Soda (this needs more also for cleaning, brushing teeth, as a deodorant, lots of uses)
0.5 lbs of Yeast
5 lbs of Salt (You need iodized and plain or canning salt for canning and preserving meats - so plan on more - 20lbs)

0.5 lbs of Vinegar (I think this needs increased to 1-2 gallons per person for canning and cleaning. You also need several gallons of apple cider vinegar - like Braggs which is unprocessed and has what they call the mother. You will use this to make elixirs for flu and colds)

Black pepper (whole lasts indefinitely, just remember a pepper grinder)
Onion/Garlic Powder
Chili Powder
Vanilla extract
Cream of Tartar
Corn Starch

To make 1 tablespoon of baking powder:
2 teaspoon of cream of tarter (shelf life = indefinite)
1 teaspoon of baking soda (shelf life = indefinite)

Use within two weeks. Only make up what you need at a time. If you are going to store for 2 weeks, add one teaspoon of cornstarch to keep it from clumping.


FRUITS
40 lbs of Apples (canned or dried)
40 lbs of Applesauce
30 lbs of Banana Chips
35 lbs of Fruit Mixture
40 lbs of Fruit Juice

185 lbs Total of Fruits

VEGETABLES
30 lbs of Corn
30 lbs of Peas
30 lbs of Green Beans
30 lbs of Carrots
40 lbs of Potatoes
20 lbs of Tomatoes

185 lbs Total of Vegetables

Though the LDS say nothing about canned meats, I have added them to my preps. Add Alaska salmon - it has one of the longest shelf life of meat next to tuna and Spam. Tuna, well it might be contaminated. Spam, learn to like it along with Vienna Sausage. Also add canned chicken and beef if you can find it. Canned ham also lasts a long time, I just can't find it.

WATER
30 gals of Water (one month supply, more if you have room. This is only for drinking and cooking)
1 gal of bleach (shelf life is only 6 months to one year)
1-pound bag of calcium hypochlorite would work better than liquid bleach for long term storage.
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Remember there won't be any running to the store when you need comfort food. We all snack (I call it grazing for my family) which adds up more than we think it does. Some chips here, some candy there, some ice cream, or whatever it is that makes you feel better when you are stressed or sad. Those are the things you have to stock up on also. If they are missing, it will just add to the stress of the whole situation!