Baby Steps to Food Storage

Food storage.  I have always thought of  food storage as buckets of wheat you tuck in the back of your storage room and pull out when there is some major catastrophe.  You wouldn't think of eating your food storage.

But what about a job loss or a major car repair?  Do I have enough stored away I could make it a week or two or even a month without having to run to the store? With GrocerySmarts shopping strategy I have a lot of what I need tucked away.  However I still have my weekly staples I need to buy.  Such as milk, eggs, fresh fruit and vegetables.

I am finding I need a system of long-term and short-term food storage.  Having both can really help my budget and keep me from over-spending.  

I hope periodically to share some of the things that I have learned as I am taking these baby steps to learn to build a well-balanced, working food storage. 

Long-term food storage I could use day to day:

• Powdered Milk:  I know the first thought is yuck.  But wait you can use it to cook with.  How many times does a recipe call for a cup of milk?  Using it to cook with reduces the amount of fresh milk you need.  It also helps rotate your food storage.  I have also started adding a cup or two to our gallon of milk when it is half empty.  My kids can't taste the difference.  I have purchased my milk at the LDS Dry Pack Cannery for the best price.  Dry milk also goes on sale with case-lot sales. 
• Wheat:  Again my mind goes back to the days of the dry, overwhelming wheat flavored bread we would have at home.  However I have started baking with whole-wheat from my food storage.  It is the hard white wheat and it has such a light flavor.  My kids hardly complain.  Sometimes I will add a cup of white flour to my batch to make it seem almost wheat-free.  Another thing I do with wheat is stretch my meat.  I can make a pound of hamburger go further if I add a little cooked cracked wheat to it.  Don't worry I will post on ways to stretch your meat a little later.  I have to remind myself  it's okay to use your food storage because this helps you rotate it and helps you know how much your family needs.
• Dry Eggs:  This is my new item I am going to tackle.   Just today I read a post on Deals to Meals blog about a great price on dry eggs right now.  Just click here to read it.  I am going to start using dry eggs when I cook.  Perhaps I will add a few dry eggs when I make scrambled eggs or french toast. These are great ways to start using those long-term food storage items and it will help me from having to buy fresh items each week.