Tips

Ok - so I've been working on Emergency Preparedness/Food Storage for about a year and a half now. I decided to publish a list of tips - some of these could also be called 'Things I Learned the Hard Way' or 'What Was I Thinking?!?' The only reason that I decided to share these things is because I've learned so many things from other people (good things - not many have shared their stories of what they learned the hard way). Hopefully, I can share some of the great information that I've picked up from others, and possibly someone else can benefit from my mistakes (or at least laugh at them). I've determined that Food Storage/Emergency Preparedness is an ongoing project. There will always be SOMETHING to do, SOMETHING to try, SOMETHING to fix, SOMETHING to update - so check back often to see what else I've learned the hard way! \"/

*A Great Tip - Boxes can be stored on the shelves so that they are standing on end (the short side of the box is on the shelf, the long side of the box is facing out, top and bottom are to the left and right). If you store the boxes this way on the shelf, then there are no boxes sitting on top of them. This makes the box is easier to get to because you don't have to move so many boxes to access it.

*A Great Tip (or *Thing I Learned the Hard Way) - The plastic lids store better if they are on the can. If you store them in a drawer or on a shelf then they get brittle and break faster. If they are stored on the can, then they will keep the shape and store better. Okay - I'll admit it. I decided (I don't even know why) that I didn't want to store the lids in the boxes on the can (before I learned this information) so I took all of the lids off and had them on a shelf. After I learned this little tidbit, I went back through ALL my boxes and put at least two lids per box back on the cans and had to tape up each box, and put it back into its place on the shelf. (It's a good thing that my husband loves me, and has a testimony of food storage - because he helped move everything without complaining). Someone else, please learn from my mistake! \"/

*What Was I Thinking!?! - When I first started with food storage, I was gung-ho. I took a list of items that someone else suggested should be in my 72-Hour Kit. I followed the list precisely and purchased the food items. I made the kits (7 of them, out of milk jugs) perfectly! Only to come to the realization that the containers wouldn't fit in my car (because of their milk jug shape) in the spot that I wanted them to fit. Also the food I purchased was not stuff that my kids normally ate, and when we taste-tested the food items, of course they hated them! I learned that the best thing is what works for your family, there isn't a perfect one-size-fits-all list to consult. The items that work for my family won't be the items that work for your family. Consult several lists, get some ideas and then do what works best for YOUR family. Store what you eat, eat what you store.

*A Great Tip - I made two 72-Hour Kits for my husband. One that is kept in his truck, which he uses to commute to and from work. The other one is stored with the rest of the family's in my van, in case something happens when he is not at work and with the family. That way, he's prepared either way!

*A Great Tip - Food storage boxes can be stored underneath beds. The boxes go on the ground, the frame sits on the boxes (the wheels are straddled between rows of boxes), the box spring sits on the frame, and the mattress sits on the box springs. It works for us because we don't have headboards or footboards, and I use a bed skirt so that we don't see the boxes. It works better with beds that are up against the wall, and it will raise the bed a couple of inches higher, but you don't really notice. I stored only long-term items under the beds, and I have made notations about what food items are under which bed. 15 boxes (90 cans) will fit (stratigically packed) under a double bed and 9 boxes (54 cans) will fit under a single bed. Plus, I think that the temperature inside of the house will be cooler than that in the garage, causing the food to have a longer shelf life.

*What Was I Thinking!?! - Ok, I'm hesitating to share this one, so I'm just going to take a deep breath and plunge in. When my husband and I turned to our food storage after job loss and running low on money (which is how I got into Emergency Preparedness/Food Storage - I kind-of didn't have a choice, and then I got hooked), I was VERY clueless when it came to food storage. I had food storage sitting on my shelves in the garage and I know that I've had those boxes for AT LEAST 17 years, because that's how long we had been married. But, I didn't really know how to use food storage. I had always had some food storage on my shelves, my parents always had food storage on their shelves. I grew up in Utah and we had a garden, and canned food and made stuff from scratch and had some rough economic times, so I had been around food storage my entire life. But, I still didn't know where to start. I pulled out a 17 plus year box of food storage, opened a can and tried to figure out how I could work it into something edible.

I learned that changing your diet, having to cook with items you are not familiar with is NOT easy, especially when you are already stressed out about the situation. Learning a new skills set in the middle of a crisis is not the best teacher. Learning that you need accessories or kitchen tools that you don't have, aren't familiar with, and you don't have the ability to get, is very difficult. My philosphy of Food Storage has completely changed. I am learning NOW how to use the food storage that I have, I'm trying out recipes NOW to figure out which ones my family likes, I'm trying stuff NOW so that my children are used to eating the items that we have stored. I'm figuring out NOW and getting the tools in the kitchen that will help me be more successful with my food storage. I'm grateful for our experience (although at the time it was very difficult) because it was the opportunity to learn a valuable lesson. It was the kick start to get me going on food storage. Had it not been for our experience I don't think I would have truly realized the importance and the blessing of food storage.
Ok - that wasn't what I was going to share, but it too was an important lesson. I'll try it again.

*What was I thinking!?! - Ok - another deep breath and plunge. \"/ Here goes: When I started opening 17 plus year old boxes in the garage, we learned that more than half of our food storage had gone bad (it had been stored in the garage exposed to more extreme temperatures our whole married life). We had cans that were bulging and when we opened them they were disgusting! Nothing had dates written on them - we had no idea how old the stuff actually was. We opened up the cans and started dumping out food. Some were so rancid that the smell would permeate the whole house after opening the can. Even if we put it in the trash can, you could still smell the gross food. So I started dumping things into the sink with the garbage disposal running, that way it would wash it down and it would be gone. I was moving along, getting rid of some gross food when all of a sudden the garbage disposal wasn't working and the sink started backing up. I realized that I had just dumped out a ton of potato flakes and they had rehdyrated in the sink, and in the garbage disposal, and in the pipes in the kitchen, and in the pipes throughout the house...that was a mess!! When we were trying to clear the pipes it forced potatos up through the other side of the sink and they exploded all over the kitchen. (It's a good thing that my husband loves me and has a testimony of food storage.) Note to self (and others): Remember that lots of food storage items are dehydrated, adding water rehydrates them and causes them to swell. \"/

*A Great Tip - Always write the date on food storage items when you store them. I usually write the month and the year in permanent marker somewhere on the label. That way you'll know what can to use first, what may be expired, etc. in several years.