Food storage for 1 person for 1 year.

[96thTallarn]

I need some input from some of you that have been doing long term storage for awhile. These are the quantities of dried goods that I have come up with for storing for myself for one year:
WHEAT 300 LBS
OATS 100 LBS
RICE 200 LBS
BEANS 100 LBS
CORN 100 LBS
SALT 100 LBS
SUGAR 100 LBS
OIL 16 GAL
DRY MILK 6 #10 CANS
FRUIT 25 #10 CANS
VEG. 25 #10 CANS
TVP 2 #10 CANS
MEAT ?????
I guess that my question is this, do these amounts seem to be with in the normal range? Does anything seem to be either on the high or low side? What would be the best way of including meat into my plans? Any help you could give would be greatly appreciated. I should also note that I have read the 3 part food storage article here on this site. Thanks.

[crossbow]

unless you eat a lot of toast and sandwiches, you should have about 200 pounds of wheat left. add more fruits,vegs, 100 cans of chicken breast, 50 cans of solid white tuna and 50 cans of span and you probably could make it a couple yrs or longer by yourself. this is just a fast estimate. don't forget the water
if you're by yourself, you may want smaller cans on fruits,vegs, a #10 can is a lot of food to open with no refridgeration to store the left overs. we buy smaller cans by the case at Aldis.

[1Admin]

96- sounds good.

Meats you have a couple options for long term storage.

1. Freeze dried meats- like Mountain House. Go for the all meat cans, not the ""Chicken and Rice" type dishes. At first glance it sounds more convenient. "It's a meal in a can" type of thing. But what you want is the meat and it's silly to pay $30 or more for a can of chicken with a boatload of rice in there.

2. MRE meat pouches- don't buy the full meal pouches, buy the cases of 72 of the meat entrees.

People will get used to eating less meat. It's better for you IMO. Comparative to the normal American diet, we eat very little meat. Last night for example, it was rice, lentils and fresh corn on the cob. The lentils weren't our normal lentil and I remarked to the wife, "Wow these taste meaty?" She said that she had put some FD chicken dices in with the rice when it was cooking. It was barely visible amongst the rice.

You don't need to eat a huge slab o' meat with every meal. Try going without it for a while, you'll feel better and probably lose some weight.

[crossbow]

1Admin is correct, you don't need the meat, your rice and beans will give you the protein and fat from the oil.

[Kat]

You can also can your own meat with a canner in canning jars as well. We canned some chicken that way last year and it was pretty easy. If you find a deal on some meat, you could can hamburger, meatballs, soups, etc... Some things can be canned bone-in as well to save some prep. As far as #10 cans go I prefer freeze dried or dehydrated to wet-pack because you don't have to worry as much about spoilage after they're opened.

[96thTallarn]

I should have listed the fruits and vegs. as freeze dried. I also thought about putting up some pasta, such as macaroni and spaghetti. I have been buying regular cans for soup, ravioli, chilie, etc. for short term use, along with some "boxed" dinners like hamberger helper. I rotate through these things so I have a pretty good supply of them on hand. I found some pouches of soup and chilie mix at Wal-Mart yesterday, they were dehydrated and packed in mylar pouches, I thought I would try them to see if they are any good. They are meatless and according to the package they may be eaten that way. On a different note, does a freeze dried item need to be refrigerated once opened, if it has not been cooked, i.e. fruit and vegs.? Thanks again for all the help.

[RainyDayChick]

I would add lentils (high in protein and easier to cook than beans--no soaking required) and honey (keeps indefinitely, but crystallizes) to your food storage.

Have you have stocked things like yeast, baking soda, vinegar, and seasonings? The yeast will need to be rotated frequently. I end up throwing it out around it's expiration date, but I see it as an expense I just have to accept if I want to be prepared. You might also want to consider adding sprouting seeds like alfalfa. Your wheat can also be sprouted and used as a breakfast cereal in addition to making breads. Wheat can be used for sowing a crop, for charity, barter, and animal feed. The red winter wheat keeps the best; I've heard 30+ years, and I really don't think you can have too much of it should tshtf.

For meat, I buy canned chicken at Sam's club--right now they're selling cans which expire in 2013 and the price just went down a $1.50. It used to be about $11 and now it's under $10. It's easy for me to rotate b/c there are several dishes I make for my family which gracefully use canned chicken--a few types of chicken salad and chicken casseroles. I'm working up to a year's supply of canned chicken for my family. Right now, we have enough to have a chicken meal once a week for a year, but I was hoping to triple that since we probably eat chicken at least 3x per week.

Don't forget some comfort foods and some variety even if you can't stock much of it. Candy, chocolate, maybe some canned bacon, and dehydrated eggs would be a wonderful blessing to offset appetite fatigue.