Good! Also best time to stock up is before heating season. Prices go up after that because of extra expenses for business owners. And stock on cat food and dog food. Once you're stocked, you also have a peace of mind. It's a great feeling.
Absolutely! It’s always smart to plan ahead, especially with winter season approaching. Having everything stocked up really does bring peace of mind. Here’s to a cozy and well-prepared season ahead! ☕🧸🔥 Thank you for watching.
If you have only a small budget for stocking up on enough shelf stable food for six months of unemployment and you are not a talented cook, you will get the most calories for your money if you stock up on plain, dry, high-calorie foods that are easy to cook. Here are some high calorie, inexpensive, shelf stable foods that are easy to learn to cook in a pot of water on a stove top or in a slow cooker: rolled oats, plain dry pasta, white rice, dried beans, dried peas and dried lentils. If you are a more experienced cook, you may want to stock up on plain white flour to make flour tortillas or homemade noodles or stock up on masa flour to make corn tortillas. If you can grow your own vegetables or have easy access to a grocery store (and a stash of emergency cash), a 5 or 10-lb. bag of raw potatoes can also provide a lot of calories at low cost. If you want to have 2000 calories per day at the lowest cost, then you want about two-thirds to three-fourths of the calories in each meal to come from these very basic dry foods. The remainer of the calories in each meal can come from canned soup, canned stew, canned meat/chicken/seafood, canned sausage gravy, canned or dried non-starchy vegetables, canned or dry fruit and powered milk stored in your pantry. Keep in mind that canned foods and dehydrated foods are expensive, and each can does not have that many servings or a lot of calories per serving. Look at the nutrition information on the labels and see for yourself. If you are consuming some canned soups or meats each day, these will probably have enough fat to give you the amount of fat your body needs each day. If you are not using these canned foods, you may need to add a teaspoon of vegetable oil of each plate/bowl of lunch or dinner to get your daily requirement of fat. Dietary fat is essential to help your body absorb some kinds of vitamins and to maintain healthy skin and connective tissue. At 2000 calories per day per adult, you will need 62,000 calories to feed one adult for a month (2000 calories x 31 days). Or 372,000 calories to feed one adult for six months. That is a lot of calories and is why you want at least two-thirds of those calories to be from inexpensive, high-calorie foods such as rolled oats, plain pasta, white rice and dried legumes. Bear in mind that meals made from dried foods and canned foods will lack the amount of vitamin C you need for good health. Make sure to take a multivitamin tablet daily or drink a serving of vitamin C-enriched beverage (such as Tang orange-flavored drink mix or reconstituted orange juice) each day. Here is a cheap, filling breakfast: cooked rolled oats (calories and dietary fiber) to which some powdered milk (protein, calcium and vitamin D) and sugar (calories and flavor) have been added for a total of about 667 calories. Another inexpensive and filling breakfast: cooked white rice (calories) + canned fruit (calories, dietary fiber and flavor) or dried fruit (such as raisins or sweetened dried cranberries) and powdered milk (protein, calcium and vitamin D) for a total of about 667 calories. Easy lunches and dinners: Cooked pasta or rice or potatoes, topped with cooked beans, peas or lentils plus enough heated soup/stew/chili to make a gravy/sauce and perhaps some diced and heated canned meat. The pasta or rice or potatoes should make up about two-thirds of the calories in your plate or bowl. If using homemade cooked tortillas, make a filling for them from cooked rice, cooked beans and diced canned meat (shredded cheese and taco seasoning optional). You want each adult's lunch, dinner and breakfast to total about 667 calories to reach a total of 2000 calories per day. Dried beans and peas take considerable time to prepare, so cook enough for several meals. Measure out enough dried beans, peas or lentils for four days of meals. Soak the beans or peas overnight in twice their amount of water. Lentils do not need to be soaked before cooking. Place the lentils or the drained beans or peas into the cooking pot or the slow cooker. Add enough water and simmer until tender (20-40 minutes on the stove top, several hours in the slow cooker). Check the cooking manual that came with your slow cooker to make sure you add the right amount of water (less than you need if cooking on the stove top). Any cooked beans, peas or lentils you are not using right away should be stored in the refrigerator for later meals. If you have a rice cooker machine you can cook a generous amount of rice first thing in the morning, have some for breakfast and then keep the rest of the rice warm all day on the low setting. Or you can cook a big batch on the stove top, let cool and then store in the refrigerator and later warm each portion in a microwave. A pasta pot with lid will bring the water to a boil faster than using a pot without a lid. Add the dry pasta to rapidly boiling, salted water, let the water return to a boil and then turn down the heat so that the pasta gently simmers, stir occasionally to keep the pasta from clumping together or sticking to the inside of the pot. After the pasta has cooked a bit less time than what is listed in the package's cooking instructions, use tongs to fish out a piece of pasta and bite it to see if it is "al dente" (cooked through but not mushy). When the pasta is just soft enough, drain it and serve while it is warm. Food storage is insurance against hunger. It also means you can still feed your family during periods of unemployment when you are using your savings to pay rent or mortgage and utility bills.
I really appreciate your detailed comment! It’s great to see so many people thinking ahead and making smart choices about what to stock up on. Your input is valuable, practical, detailed, and tailored for those on a tight budget who may not be experienced cooks. It offers a realistic approach to emergency food storage that could sustain a person for an extended period. Well done! Thanks for sharing.
Good! Also best time to stock up is before heating season. Prices go up after that because of extra expenses for business owners.
And stock on cat food and dog food.
Once you're stocked, you also have a peace of mind. It's a great feeling.
Absolutely! It’s always smart to plan ahead, especially with winter season approaching. Having everything stocked up really does bring peace of mind. Here’s to a cozy and well-prepared season ahead! ☕🧸🔥 Thank you for watching.
If you have only a small budget for stocking up on enough shelf stable food for six months of unemployment and you are not a talented cook, you will get the most calories for your money if you stock up on plain, dry, high-calorie foods that are easy to cook. Here are some high calorie, inexpensive, shelf stable foods that are easy to learn to cook in a pot of water on a stove top or in a slow cooker: rolled oats, plain dry pasta, white rice, dried beans, dried peas and dried lentils. If you are a more experienced cook, you may want to stock up on plain white flour to make flour tortillas or homemade noodles or stock up on masa flour to make corn tortillas. If you can grow your own vegetables or have easy access to a grocery store (and a stash of emergency cash), a 5 or 10-lb. bag of raw potatoes can also provide a lot of calories at low cost.
If you want to have 2000 calories per day at the lowest cost, then you want about two-thirds to three-fourths of the calories in each meal to come from these very basic dry foods. The remainer of the calories in each meal can come from canned soup, canned stew, canned meat/chicken/seafood, canned sausage gravy, canned or dried non-starchy vegetables, canned or dry fruit and powered milk stored in your pantry. Keep in mind that canned foods and dehydrated foods are expensive, and each can does not have that many servings or a lot of calories per serving. Look at the nutrition information on the labels and see for yourself. If you are consuming some canned soups or meats each day, these will probably have enough fat to give you the amount of fat your body needs each day. If you are not using these canned foods, you may need to add a teaspoon of vegetable oil of each plate/bowl of lunch or dinner to get your daily requirement of fat. Dietary fat is essential to help your body absorb some kinds of vitamins and to maintain healthy skin and connective tissue.
At 2000 calories per day per adult, you will need 62,000 calories to feed one adult for a month (2000 calories x 31 days). Or 372,000 calories to feed one adult for six months. That is a lot of calories and is why you want at least two-thirds of those calories to be from inexpensive, high-calorie foods such as rolled oats, plain pasta, white rice and dried legumes. Bear in mind that meals made from dried foods and canned foods will lack the amount of vitamin C you need for good health. Make sure to take a multivitamin tablet daily or drink a serving of vitamin C-enriched beverage (such as Tang orange-flavored drink mix or reconstituted orange juice) each day.
Here is a cheap, filling breakfast: cooked rolled oats (calories and dietary fiber) to which some powdered milk (protein, calcium and vitamin D) and sugar (calories and flavor) have been added for a total of about 667 calories. Another inexpensive and filling breakfast: cooked white rice (calories) + canned fruit (calories, dietary fiber and flavor) or dried fruit (such as raisins or sweetened dried cranberries) and powdered milk (protein, calcium and vitamin D) for a total of about 667 calories.
Easy lunches and dinners: Cooked pasta or rice or potatoes, topped with cooked beans, peas or lentils plus enough heated soup/stew/chili to make a gravy/sauce and perhaps some diced and heated canned meat. The pasta or rice or potatoes should make up about two-thirds of the calories in your plate or bowl. If using homemade cooked tortillas, make a filling for them from cooked rice, cooked beans and diced canned meat (shredded cheese and taco seasoning optional). You want each adult's lunch, dinner and breakfast to total about 667 calories to reach a total of 2000 calories per day.
Dried beans and peas take considerable time to prepare, so cook enough for several meals. Measure out enough dried beans, peas or lentils for four days of meals. Soak the beans or peas overnight in twice their amount of water. Lentils do not need to be soaked before cooking. Place the lentils or the drained beans or peas into the cooking pot or the slow cooker. Add enough water and simmer until tender (20-40 minutes on the stove top, several hours in the slow cooker). Check the cooking manual that came with your slow cooker to make sure you add the right amount of water (less than you need if cooking on the stove top). Any cooked beans, peas or lentils you are not using right away should be stored in the refrigerator for later meals.
If you have a rice cooker machine you can cook a generous amount of rice first thing in the morning, have some for breakfast and then keep the rest of the rice warm all day on the low setting. Or you can cook a big batch on the stove top, let cool and then store in the refrigerator and later warm each portion in a microwave.
A pasta pot with lid will bring the water to a boil faster than using a pot without a lid. Add the dry pasta to rapidly boiling, salted water, let the water return to a boil and then turn down the heat so that the pasta gently simmers, stir occasionally to keep the pasta from clumping together or sticking to the inside of the pot. After the pasta has cooked a bit less time than what is listed in the package's cooking instructions, use tongs to fish out a piece of pasta and bite it to see if it is "al dente" (cooked through but not mushy). When the pasta is just soft enough, drain it and serve while it is warm.
Food storage is insurance against hunger. It also means you can still feed your family during periods of unemployment when you are using your savings to pay rent or mortgage and utility bills.
I really appreciate your detailed comment! It’s great to see so many people thinking ahead and making smart choices about what to stock up on. Your input is valuable, practical, detailed, and tailored for those on a tight budget who may not be experienced cooks. It offers a realistic approach to emergency food storage that could sustain a person for an extended period. Well done! Thanks for sharing.
Nothing new here. It's all good common sense.
I appreciate your perspective! Sometimes, it's nice to reinforce what we already know. Thank you.
Yep me too it goes along way cause there is a shortage of it lol !