Storing Canned Food

We have a large store of canned food that I have preserved from our garden. In our effort to become more self sufficient we have been able to eliminate a lot of store bought canned goods. However, in the beginning we did store large amounts of purchased canned goods. If you are just beginning I would advise starting with some prepackaged goods. Soups are a perfect place to start. They are fairly nutritionally sound and in all reality could be eaten 3 times a day if need be. Soups are regularly run on sale. Look for coupons in your Sunday paper and online to help further reduce cost. Store canned foods in a cool dry place. Some good options are under the bed, a basement or a linen closet. Attics are not a good options as they get too hot.
Canned goods have a long shelf life but remember to rotate. First in, first out. I would suggest a starting goal of 21 cans per person. If you had NOTHING else that would be enough for a week of meals. You will continue to work from there, adding a few items each week.

Water, water everywhere....

Nor any drop to drink. It may be just a poem but we cannot survive long without it. Food, yes. Water, no. This should be your first item to go into your pantry (or under your bed!) Ideally a gallon a day per person, for at LEAST 3 days. The more the better, we have enough for at least two weeks. The more you can store the better. Being that we cook from scratch, water is a very important ingredient in our reserves. Dried beans take a lot of water!
You don't necessarily have to buy water. You can store it in recycled containers. Juice, milk and glass jars work well. Always make sure you have thoroughly cleaned and sanitized your containers. NEVER use anything that has held a non food item. If using a recycled container I always date it and every month or two water plants with the contents and refill.
Water is critical in your journey of preparedness. Start today.

Baby Steps

Prepping does not happen overnight. It takes baby steps. Do a little at a time. No extra money you say? Ponder this.... if you stop at McDonald's every morning for a cup of coffee, you spend at least a dollar. That's $ 7 a week. Here, I can buy a gallon of water at Walmart for a dollar. That's 7 gallons and you are well on your way to having your stores in place. Make your coffee at home, take it with you and buy your water!
It can take months, even years to get to where you are comfortable in knowing you are ready for what comes down the pike. The biggest thing is to store what you eat, eat what you store and rotate your food. If you hate brown rice, don't buy it! You can start by aiming to have an extra week's worth of food on hand. Then a month, 3 months, and so on. Set small goals and pat yourself on the back when you reach them. Our goal is to have a year's storage on hand. At any given time it could be a bit more or less depending on the time of year. Food here on the farm can be quite seasonal...we can gather 30 or more eggs come spring yet not even have enough for a pound cake dead winter. Learn to plan and preserve for those times. As I said baby steps...are you ready?