How to save food for short and long term.

 How to save food for short and long term.

1. When you are grocery shopping, purchase 1 more of each item that you can, for each family member.

2. The "sell by date", is NOT the expiration date on most foods!

3. Store your foods in a dark and cool area if at all possible.

4. Buy in bulk, whenever possible. Especially staple foods, such as flour, sugar, cornmeal, beans, rice, oatmeal, etc.

5. If you do not know how, LEARN to cook from scratch!

6. STOP wasting your money on prepackaged foods, whenever possible!!! I am sorry, your kid does not need the super cool new Lunchables! What he/she needs is a HEALTHY and wholesome lunch. Sandwich, piece of fruit, cold veggie. Buy milk from the school. You do not need to have the Caprisun. (Those things are NASTY anyhow. Look up what is in my Caprisun bag.) And yes, "Little Slugger and/or "Little Princess" will eat what you send, or go hungry. And I guarantee, they will NOT allow themselves to go hungry very long. They WILL eat what you send!

7. Learn how to can. Both pressure canning and waterbath canning.

8. Learn how to dehydrate foods.

9. Gardening! Even simple pot/container gardening can help you save money on foods.

10. Mason jars are your friends! 1 quart and 1/2 gallon jars are my go to for short term storage. 

11. 5 gallon food grade buckets are your BEST friends! Lined with a NO SCENT liner/plastic bag for short term foods such as rice, oatmeal, beans, flour. Lined with a mylar bag(s) with O2 absorbers for long term, (Over 1 year) storage. I use both 5 gallon and 1 gallon mylar bags. 3, 1 gallon mylar bags fir nicely into a 5 gallon bucket, with a bit of space left in the center for sealed items such as baking powder or other spices.

5 gallon bucket are also easy to stack and to move. For me, they are easier than totes. Even during our rat and mouse infestation, we did not have anything get into our 5 gallon buckets, but we did have some issues with critters getting into the totes. I have totes for things like camping gear, kitchen items, etc.

12. Last but definitely NOT least, store what you eat, and eat what you store. Rotate your short term to constantly keep fresh foods there. If you store foods you do not normally eat, or know how to prepare, you ARE going to have major issues on hand when it comes time to have to use these foods.