20 Foods I Keep in MY SECRET PREPPER PANTRY (Food Storage 101)

Hey guys, Jennifer, welcome to sweet family. In today's video, I'm going to take you on a tour of the

food

storage

system I've been working on for my family. I'll share my best tips and tricks when it comes to

food

storage

, as well as my top 20 items that I always try to have on hand in case of an emergency. Now I know that the words food storage can seem overwhelming, totally foreign, or downright extreme to some people and that's totally fine, but to me. Food storage is an idea I grew up with. In this video, I'm just here to share what has worked for my family in case you're looking for some inspiration, but really, at the end of the day, what works for my family might not work for yours and that's okay. moving to a state that is affected by hurricanes several times a year and with how the stores have been recently I knew it was time to do a better inventory and put everything in order because at the end of the day I love my family and I want to protect them, whether it be an emergency, illness, job loss, or even a natural disaster.

I still want to be able to maintain and protect them, and that's really having a food storage system. All About Now, before I move on to my list of 20 items, I wanted to share a little about my philosophy when it comes to food storage. First of all, I don't believe in panic buying or clearing shelves, so please don't do it. I think you need to run out to the store right now and spend a fortune. Please note that I have literally spent years slowly collecting these items and as my budget would allow, if you are just starting out I recommend purchasing one or two. extra stuff every time you go to the store and definitely buy the best sellers possible next when it comes to food storage, I believe 100 in the phrase store what you eat and eat what you store, that means I don't buy or store food that my my family doesn't want to eat now I also believe in having a

pantry

that works and what that means is that I am constantly rotating using and replacing items in my stash that way nothing goes to waste and as I use and replace items I am making sure to rotate them so that the oldest items go to the front and are used first in my food storage system.

I've broken everything down into three main components first. I have my short term supply which means food that lasts at least at least six months to a year then I have my medium term supply and that is food that lasts two years or more and finally I have my long term food storage term and those are

foods

that can last five years or more. What's more, I have some things that last up to 30 years, no joke and I have also finally set up three different spaces in my house where I store food. The first area is the

pantry

in my house and I'll go ahead and link that video.

Below, if you want to see it, this is where I

keep

the

foods

that we use almost daily. The next area is what I like to call my prep pantry. For this space, my sweet husband definitely helped me, he built me ​​up. some inexpensive but very sturdy shelves in this small hallway between the living room and our garage and unlike my garage which gets very hot and humid since this space is climate controlled and I don't have any creepy crawlies in here, this one is the perfect extra. pantry space for my family and finally there is the garage, this is where I

keep

most of our long term food storage.

I also have our old refrigerator here and a small freezer for storage, now I can go ahead and get into the List of 20 Items I Like to Have Stored at All Times. These are in no particular order, but I'm going to go ahead and start with water because obviously water is very important right now, according to Fema, they recommend that you stockpile at least. a gallon per person per day for at least three days, so for my family that is a lot of water, so I have decided to store it in three different ways, we have smaller water bottles, if we have to drink them quickly, we also have water bottles from a gallon larger and then I recommend that you consider having a water filtration system.

We recently invested in this Berkey water filter and it works great, but they can be a little expensive so it could be a less expensive alternative. You should go ahead and buy yourself a Brita water filter pitcher. This one is smaller. You can usually find it at Target Walmart. I know Costco has a really good deal right now. If you buy one of these, I recommend you go for it. Also, I put some extra filters in my food storage, I like to keep drink mixes, especially if you have to filter your own water, it may still taste a little funky, so I definitely recommend some simple drink mixes so that the water tastes better. a little better, I found this as a great gatorade at Costco and it will actually stay good on my shelf for at least a year.

You can also stock up on a lemonade mix like these little ones here, these actually have a two year shelf life if they're unopened and you guys, even if you're not a fan of the spicy flavor, definitely think about picking up some of this too because it has lots of vitamin C and finally in my long term food storage. I have a couple of these number 10 cans of drink mix so this is basically like powdered kool-aid here and this drink mix can last up to 10 years also in the drink mix category don't forget about things like hot chocolate, I like it.

Have some of this on hand and of course if you're a fan of tea or coffee you'll also want to stock up on the following. I have my ready-to-eat meals category, so these are the types of foods you really like. I want in case of emergency because they are ready right out of the can or you just have to add water in my short term storage. I like to save these soup bags. I buy them at Walmart and they are usually pretty inexpensive. in many different flavors and one bag makes about eight servings and they have a shelf life of about a year.

I also like to have plenty of cans of soup on hand and now this is one of the items that always sells out if there is a hurricane headed our way so I definitely like to stock up on these. I like Campbells. I like Progresso. I really like the kind that has meat and vegetables and these also have a very long shelf life of about two years. Also in this category I have some boxes of deluxe macaroni and cheese and they are really great because they have a shelf life of about a year and you don't need to add milk or butter, the cheese is already ready to be next on my list, I have beans and/or rice, now I know these seem a little obvious, but I've actually stored them a little differently first, let's talk about beans, now beans are actually a great source of protein and fiber and they last a long time when it is about.

For beans, I like to stock up on smaller cans in all varieties. They are great to add to so many different things. They have a shelf life of about one to two years, so they last a long time. I also went ahead and dry canned some. Recently this was actually a pretty easy process and I'll go ahead and link a video below if you want to learn how to do it yourself and these can last for years if not opened and speaking of yours check out these numbers. 10 cans of beans, no joke, you say they can last up to 30 years.

Now let's move on to rice. I have several different types of rice here, first in my short term food storage. I like to keep some of these unbranded. bags of rice, this is not something we normally eat regularly, but they are a very good and quick emergency meal. They are perfect for stocking up because they are also very economical. I bought them at Sam's Club and they were less than 70 cents a bag, another of my favorites are these rice bags. I was able to find them at Walmart for about a dollar a bag. They come in many different flavors and because of the type of packaging they are packaged in, they actually have a very long shelf life of up to two years and here is a tip for keeping all these rice bags organized and fresh.

I like to put them in a food-safe five-gallon bucket. It had a nice tight lid on there. To keep everything fresh now, just like with the beans, I also added rice to some glass jars with oxygen absorbers and then I also have some cans of number 10 rice and just like the beans, this rice can last up to 30 years . I now have fruits and vegetables for my short-term supply. In fact, I have a good stock of frozen fruit. Now I bought these at Aldi's, so they were actually very affordable and you guys, believe it or not, the dates on these packages say They are good until 2022, of course, if you keep them frozen, another thing I like to have on hand it's dried fruits so things like raisins and apricots and mangoes we love them all especially the missile lilies here and of course if they're not open they can. they last between one and two years and also in the fruit department I have some smaller cans of fruit and some ten cans of fruit and these have a shelf life of about the same time, about one or two years, whether they are large. cans or small tins is more or less the same.

I also have tons of smaller cans of vegetables, but I only bought the vegetables that my kids prefer, so things like carrots and green beans, mixed greens, corn, things like that, can last about one to two years on the shelf and the same with the larger #10 cans and my favorite place to stock up on this type of food is Aldi or Walmart. Well guys, next on my list is Flower Flower, it was one of those things that disappeared. It came off the shelves a couple of months ago first, I have a smaller container that I keep in my pantry now, if you are someone who likes to use a lot of flour, think about getting a food safe bucket like this one that way you can get a big old bag of flour from Costco and you can keep everything fresh here and then as far as my long term flour storage goes I also have some in number 10 cans and they now have a shelf life of about 10 years after flour.

I have to talk about other baking ingredients and I'm going to group this together because you really only want to store the type of baking ingredients that you like to have. I know that for a while yeast was very hard to find, so I made it. Go ahead and get several packs on Amazon, they were a little more expensive than they used to be but this will definitely last me a long time. Definitely think about adding baking powder, baking soda, and baking mixes to your stash, and these tend to only have about a one-year shelf life, so I try not to stock up too much on these.

Well, next thing is I think my biggest category would be pasta and noodles because you guys, my kids love pasta, pasta is cheap and it can stay good for a long time. Now, first, I definitely stocked up on macaroni and cheese when it was on sale. These have a useful life of approximately one or two years. The same goes for ramen noodles. These again are super economical and you, if you take a little of this. ramen and add things like chicken or other vegetables, it's a really good dinner. Another way to store pasta is in these oxo containers that keep things fresh for a long time.

I also have several simple boxes of pasta and then for my super long term. food storage I also have some pasta in number 10 cans, so these are macaroni noodles and then spaghetti bites and the spaghetti bites are actually smaller pieces of spaghetti now, of course, to go with the pasta, too I have a good supply of sauce, of course you could make your own sauce if you want, but these ones from Sam's Club are pretty good, they have a shelf life of about two years. I also have several bottles of Alfredo sauce. These don't last that long, only about a year.

I have some cans of pasta sauce here, they have a two year shelf life and then if I get to the point where I need to make my own pasta sauce, I also have some number 10 cans of tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes so I can Do that and speaking of making my own sauce, I also recommend storing your favorite spices in your food storage. Some spices don't stay good forever, but they actually have a pretty long shelf life and if you buy these containers at Sam's Club. or Costco, they are actually pretty inexpensive and don't forget that salt is very important to stock up on, you need it in your diet and my favorite salt happens to be this kind that comes from Utah.

Next is milk. category now, I know a lot of people like to have powdered milk on hand but honestly I'm not a big fan of powdered milk so I went ahead and stocked up on these dollar tree milk boxes, this one is stable milk, like thiswhich can stay good on the shelf for a year also in the milk category I have some almond milk that can stay good for a year and then I also have several cans of evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk which brings me to the oats category and I have a pretty wide variety of oats in my short term supply.

I have a big jar full of rolled oats. I also have many packages of oats. These don't last as long as six months to a year, but they are really great. in case of emergency because you really just have to add hot water too in the oat milk department. I have some in glass jars that can last several years and I also have many #10 cans filled with oats that can last 30 years. Oh yeah, and as I go through these cans of #10 items, you'll notice that some of them have lids on them, which doesn't mean they're actually open.

I only keep the lids with the can so they don't close. Don't miss, next up is the meat category. I don't have a lot of meat in my freezer right now, but I do have a lot of canned meat. I know not everyone is a fan of canned meat, but it does come. Until I have canned meat or no meat, I'm going to go with canned meat, I have things like Vienna sausages, I have spam, a lot of spam, I also have some cans of corned beef hash, which are pretty tasty and then I just have a couple of number 10 cans of freeze dried meats, these tend to be quite expensive so I don't have much in my stash at the moment.

Next is the sweet category, so things like sugar or honey I definitely like to have a little bit of both in my stash. I just have this little container of white sugar. I have some powdered sugar. I would. I would also like to go ahead and buy some brown sugar, of course sugar can stay good for a long time especially if you have some in number 10 cans like these and of course honey also has a very long shelf life long, in fact. I've heard some people say that honey never really goes bad like it always does.

I'm not sure if that's true, although now, when it comes to oil, I have several different types in my stash. I have olive oil that lasts about a year. I have avocado oil. that also lasts about a year. I have coconut oil that has a shelf life of two years and I also have some vegetable oil. Now, when it comes to vinegar, I like to have plenty of white vinegar and apple cider vinegar in my stash. In fact, I have several. bottles of each of these because I think they are very useful of course apple cider vinegar has many health benefits you can also make delicious salad dressings and white vinegar there are many different things you can do with this , you can clean vegetables with It is an all-purpose cleaner and sometimes I even like to add it to my clothes.

Okay guys, now we get to number 19 and this is kind of a potato category. One thing I really like to stock up on are instant potatoes, these little ones. The packages here are really affordable. I find them for less than a dollar a bag at Walmart and these are the kind that you just add water to, so they're really great in case of an emergency. They last about a year on the shelf and They also come in many different flavors, in my stash I have some canned potatoes which are not my favorite but they last a long time, about two years, and then I also have some number 10 cans of potato chips and these also have up to 30 years shelf life and that brings me to the peanut butter category now of course if you are allergic to peanuts you can definitely leave this off your list but peanut butter is a great source of protein, you can get it quite cheaply in most stores and it also has a very long shelf life of up to a year.

Guys, I only have a couple honorable mentions on this list. Things like cereals, some have a surprisingly long shelf life, especially if they don't have nuts in them. there or fruit, all these cereals have a shelf life of one year. Next up in the honorable mention category is the pancake mix. I really like broth, the kind where you just add water. They are excellent in emergencies. They are approximately one or two years old. shelf life okay guys I want to thank you if you made it to the end of this list. I feel like I've been talking forever, but I hope this gives you some good ideas on where you can start if you're interested in building. a food storage system for your family now let me know in the comments below if you have any food storage tips because I'm always interested in learning more and would love to hear what you came up with.

I want to thank you. Guys, thank you very much for watching and I'll see you in my next video.