Recipe Planning & Using Your Food Storage

Planning your Menu (recap)

• Make a list of meals your family loves• Remember to add special meals for

special occasions (Holidays, birthdays, etc..)

• Pick your #1 favorites and have them more often.

• Place the meals on your calendar according to your preference.

Costly Food Storage Attitudes

• Storing poor quality foods• Saving food for use in only an

emergency• Storing what someone else

outlines (not personalizing)• Storing foods family does not like• Not rotating stored foods• Not developing habits or skills to

use your food storage• Placing storage in inaccessible

locations• Placing storage in adverse

storage conditions

Tips and things to keep in mind…• Organize your recipes in one place so they’re easy to take if you are

in a hurry. (recipe cards can be put in Photo protecting sheets to protect them, recipe box, a binder or you can even print your own recipe books (tastebook.com)

• Don’t use recipes you’ve never tried. In an emergency, you don’t want to have extra frustration by trying something new. Try to stick with recipes that are simple and you are use to making.

• Remember to add the water needed to your list of items to buy, dehydrated and freeze dried items = more liquids to store & don’t forget spices.

• Remember that most recipes used from food storage require a little more time of preparation, allow time to prepare recipes. (such as sprouting for fresh foods and rising times)

• When planning your menu keep in mind left-overs, such as rice from a previous dinner being used for rice pudding, or cinnamon-rice for breakfast the next day.

• If you have a favorite recipe with an item that is hard to find, do an internet search to find the items. A lot of places out of the US have food items that are shelf stable or recipes that you can use to make it.

• Remember to add variety, so your don’t get bored.• Store some fast and easy items for meals (ex. Macaroni and cheese,

cereals etc..)• If you can buy it, you can Make it.

Adding Variety• Add flavors and seasonings to the basic food storage items to make

foods taste better. Store spices and herbs that your family likes!• Bouillon is easy to store and great to add flavor to rice, grains,

vegetables etc..• Keep colors in mind, preparing meals with a variety of colors makes

the meal more appetizing.• Use fruits and vegetables to add color• Use fruit juices, spices and extracts to add flavor variations.• Desserts can really liven up your food storage.• Sprouting- a great way to add fresh to your food storage and add

more vitamins, minerals etc..• Think about storing chocolate/strawberry syrup or powder. These

are great for making powdered milk taste better.

Add canned, dehydrated, freeze dried, sprouting, gardening

Home Storage Salad Bar?

Dehydrated

Easy to do at homeLower priceTake little spaceEasy to reconstitute Make great snacksLong shelf life

Loses some textureFlavors & colors are not

maintainedNutrients can be lost if

dehydrated at high temp.

Freeze Dried

Weighs less, easy to transportEasy to reconstitute with hot

waterMaintain flavors, colors, textures

and shapes30 year shelf lifeMake great snacks

More expensiveCan’t do at homeNot everything can be freeze

dried.More space to store since food

size remains.

Enjoying Dried and Dehydrated Foods

• Eat them as a snack• Mix with nuts, grains and

other items to make your own trail mix

• Use them in recipes, cookies, cakes, breads etc..

• Use vegetables for easy ingredients in soups, sauces or casseroles.

• They can be pureed and added to soups, shakes, sauces and other recipes for added nutrients.

Meat and DairyMeat Substitutions:

TVPTofu

Wheat meatBeansnuts

Canned meatsCan your own meat

Egg powderEgg substitutes

Pickled eggs

Dairy Substitutions:Powdered milkCanned milk

Soy milk or alternative milk in cartons

Canned cheeseMake your own cheese including nut

cheesesProcessed cheese food

When planning your food storage Menu you need to be creative and

think out of the box.

Menus at a Glance

List your menu plan and in (11) put how many times you will have that meal.

This will serve as your master list.

Index Card SystemHow much food do you need?

This system answers that question down to the last teaspoon of salt.

• Take note cards = to the amount of breakfasts, dinners, etc..

• Top Right hand corner write down how many times in the year you will eat that particular meal.

• On the left side write everything it takes to make the meal, including water and spices. (for your family size)

• On the right side write everything multiplied by how ever many times you’re going to eat that meal in a year.

• Don’t forget to add the water you will need for cooking.

• This is a very simple system that saves time and money because you only store what you need and will eat.

• It can easily be adapted from a years’ supply to a 2 weeks’ supply or a 3 months’ supply.

• The individuality of this system is also helpful for people with food allergies.

11Breakfast SaladServes 4

8 c. hot water

6 c. dry milk powder

12 T. white vinegar

4 can mandarin oranges, drained

4 can pineapple tidbits, drained

2c. macadamia nuts

Mix water, milk and vinegar. Set aside until it forms cottage cheese. Then add oranges, pineapple and macadamia nuts

88 c. water

66 c. dry milk powder

132 T. white vinegar

44 cans mandarin oranges

44 cans pineapple

22 c. macadamia nuts

Organizing your Grocery ListThe equivalency page gives you the information you will need to create your table. The equivalency page is an alphabetical listing of common foods and how their amounts translate into pounds, quarts, containers or #10 cans.

• Cost: The cost of using this system depends upon your menus. It can cost about one dollar per day per person if you shop wisely and bottle your own meats.

• One tip to help with cutting down costs is to start a price book.

Ma

nda

rin

Ora

nges

Pin

eapp

le

Wa

ter

Pw

dr

Milk

Wh

ite

Vin

egar

Mac

adam

ians

Breakfast Salad

Rol

led

Oat

s

Dat

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Oatmeal

44 44 88 c.

45 c.

66 c. 132 T. 22 c

45 c. 15 c.

44 44 133c. 66c. 132T. 22c. 45 c. 15 c.

Shelf Life• Best if used by” shelf life - Length of time food

retains most of its original taste and nutrition.“Life sustaining” shelf life - Length of time food preserves life, without becoming inedible.

• Food is composed of the following: • Calories: A unit of measurement of energy derived

from fats, carbohydrates and protein. • Fats: A wide group of compounds that are

generally soluble in organic solvents and largely insoluble in water.

• Carbohydrates: Simple sugars as well as larger molecules including starch and dietary fiber.

• Proteins: Large organic compounds that are essential to living organisms.

• Vitamins: A nutrient required for essential metabolic reactions in a living organism.

• Minerals: The chemical elements required by living organisms, other than carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen.

• Minerals and carbohydrates do not change much during storage. But proteins can denature and deteriorate in quality. Fats can acquire off odors and off flavors known as rancidity. Vitamins are susceptible to destruction by heat, light, and oxidation. Importantly, even if some components deteriorate, the fat, carbohydrates and proteins still contribute calories. To prevent starvation, the most important component is calories.

Checklist for Food Safety• Bulging can or lid – on home bottled foods, the lid will be concave and seal cannot be

lifted with fingers. Cans purchased in stores will bulge on the ends.• A Milky appearance to the liquid- In older foods, the food may begin to deteriorate,

forming a residue in the bottom of the jar or can. This is not an indication the food is bad, just old. The liquid may appear cloudy due to the sloughed-off food, but the appearance should not be milky.

• Corrosion on the inside of the can, especially along the seam. • Rust, especially along the seam or seal of the can.• Slimy appearance in texture.• Rancid odor, especially in foods which contain fat.• Mold growth on the food or inside the container.• Frozen can or bottle – freezing produces hairline fractures in the seal and allows

spoilage to begin. If a can is accidentally frozen, keep it frozen until time to use. Once the can thaws, the food will begin to spoil, though evidence of spoilage may not be visible for some time. Just because spoilage cannot be seen doesn’t’ mean it isn’t there and isn’t harmful.

• Off-smell- food generally changes in odor as it ages. If the smell has developed to the point where it is unpleasant, discard the food. Remember though, a changing odor is not the same as a spoiling odor.

• Home-bottled food processed improperly? – If improper processing times, methods, and/or recipes were used for home-processed vegetables and meats, the jar may be sealed but the product deadly. Do not taste! Throw it out!

How To Incorporate your Food Storage

• Keep small amounts of your food storage in your kitchen. Stock your kitchen shelves with containers of egg mix, powdered milk etc.. This will serve as a reminder that you have these items without taking up your whole kitchen. The more you see the items the more you will use them.

• Make a 1 week menu consisting only of items in your food storage• Mix food storage items with everyday foods.

use cheese powder to make homemade mac and cheese.Grind wheat to use as flour.Substitute powdered milk and eggs when your fresh supply

runs out.Make homemade cereal using oats, honey and dehydrated fruitUse dehydrated fruit or vegetables for snacksThink of wheat as a new type of rice, add it to soups,

casseroles, chicken salads and ground beef. Cook wheat up and store in freezer to add easily to recipes.

Organizing Ideas

Organize your Kitchen shelves by Recipe

Store all ingredients for each individual Recipe together on the kitchen shelf.

Better Homes and Garden publishedAnd article April of 2008 on

“Getting Organized”The put-together pantry:

make meal prep a breeze” depicts wire bins neatly labeled

with the main dish names and filled with the canned ingredients

for each recipe.

365 jars of Food Storage

• make 12 jars with one kind of soup mix.

• Recipes can be found on the web. Look under gifts in a jar, you can also buy books.

How to make your Food last longer

• Shelf life is extremely dependent on the following storage conditions: • Temperature: Excessive temperature is damaging to food storage. With increased

temperature, proteins breakdown and some vitamins will be destroyed. The color, flavor and odor of some products may also be affected. To enhance shelf life, store food at room temperature or below; never store food in an attic or garage. Average storage temperatures should be kept between 35 & 70 degrees. Don’t ever let your food storage be exposed to freezing temperatures.

• Moisture: Excessive moisture can result in product deterioration and spoilage by creating an environment in which microorganisms may grow and chemical reactions can take place. Store off the ground, away from condensation near the floor.

• Oxygen: The oxygen in air can have deteriorative effects on fats, food colors, vitamins, flavors, and other food constituents. It can cause conditions that will enhance the growth of microorganisms.

• Light: The exposure of foods to light can result in the deterioration of specific food constituents, such as fats, proteins, and vitamins, resulting in discoloration, off-flavors, and vitamin loss.

• A #10 can once opened can last from 6 months to a year. Just make sure that you cover the can securely with a lid or transfer to a ziploc baggie.

• Rotate Rotate Rotate….

Why Rotate my Food Storage?

1. To provide the most nutrition and taste for your family.

2. It prevents throwing away unused, expired goods, which saves $$.

3. It allows you and your family to get accustomed to eating stored and dehydrated foods.

4. Eating your long term storage is healthy. Most food storage items are lower in fat and higher in nutrients.

Ways to do Rotation

Use rotation racks or rolling shelves

Use a rotation sheet

Rubber band method - The basic idea is that you have a certain

number of the same items. As you use them, you will eventually come

across the last one which is the rubber-banded. This means “hey, go to the store I’m out of raisins!”

or whatever it is.

•The 2 column method – Great for food that you keep 6-10 boxes at a time. Put them in 2 columns right next to each other with the earliest expiration date in the right hand column. When you need one box, take it form the right hand column, first box first. When the right hand column is empty, move the lefthand column into the right hand column and restock into the lefthand column.

•The Sticker Method- Buy colored circle stickers. Assign a color to each year or each 6 months period. Label your food according to it’s expiration date.

•Post-it note Method- Post small pads of post-its on the inside of your cupboard and where ever else your food storage is kept. Whenever you pull something off the shelf to eat, write the item on the sticky pad. Then, whenever you go grocery shopping, peel the top sheet off and add those items to your shopping list.

1. On a poster board, tape or glue pockets made of index cards cut in half, one for each kind of food in your basic year’s supply. Each pocket is labeled by the type of food, number of packages or units, amount in each package, and the total amount needed for a year’s supply of that item. For example, one pocket might be labeled “spaghetti—48 boxes x 2 lbs. = 96 lbs.”

2. We make an inventory card for each package or unit. Spaghetti, for example, would need forty-eight cards, each with “spaghetti—2 lbs.” written on it. Those forty-eight cards are placed in the labeled pocket. Do the same with each food item.

3. Whenever someone takes an item from storage, that person also pulls a card from the pocket and brings both items to the kitchen. We place the card in an envelope taped behind a cupboard door in the kitchen.We color-coded the cards to represent the source for obtaining each food item. Foods obtained from the cannery are kept on red cards, grocery store items on green ones, warehouse items on blue, and home-canned items are on pink cards.It’s a simple matter before shopping to pull all the green cards from the envelope when planning a trip to the store, or all the red cards when I plan for a trip to the cannery. I know exactly what needs to be replaced. As items are restocked, I replace the cards in the poster board pockets.We hang our poster board in our storage area. Now we are able to keep our year’s supply of food fully stocked.—Leslie O. Andersen, Kansas City, Missouri"

Under the bed: Put plywood on the floor under your bed with wood dividers nailed onto it. This willallow you to put cans in on one side of the bed and take them out from the other side of the bed.Don’t forget the plywood, the cans are difficult to push to the front if they are on carpet.

Rotating Shelves: Pre-fabricated shelves can be bought with pre-drilled holes so you can adjust theheight of the shelves. If you put one end of the shelf one hole lower than the other side your cans will roll.

Store items that you use frequently in 5 gallon buckets. Keep one of the buckets in your pantry with“Gamma Seal” lid on it. They are easy to get in and out of and when it is empty, you can just openanother bucket, dump it into the bucket with the gamma seal lid and refill the empty bucket. This iseasy to do on your own time with no special equipment. (Put items in them that you use frequentlyso you can rotate through them—for example, flour, sugar, powdered milk, etc…)*Don’t forget to put oxy packs in the buckets that you seal. If they are full, you will need about 4 oxypacks per bucket. They do not need to be in the buckets with the gamma seal lids. You should be inand out of those frequently. You can purchase oxy packs at the cannery for $.07 each.

As we anticipate the Savior’s return to reign on the earth, we must prepare ourselves individually, as families, and as a people. … I would live as if it

were to be tomorrow—but I am still planting cherry trees! Wilford Woodruff

“I know of no other way to prepare for these times of adjustment than to be certain that during times of employment, preparations are made for less prosperous times, should they occur. Start now to create a plan if you don’t already have one, or update your present plan. Watch for best buys that will fit into your year’s supply. We are not in a situation that requires panic buying, but we do need to be careful in purchasing and rotating the storage that we’re putting away. The instability in the world today makes it imperative that we take heed of the counsel and prepare for the future”L. Tom Perry

“The best place to have some food set aside is within our homes. . . .‘We can begin ever so modestly. We can begin with a one week’s food supply and gradually build it to a month, and then to three months. . . . I fear that so many feel that a long-term food supply is so far beyond their reach that they make no effort at all.“Begin in a small way, . . . and gradually build toward a reasonable objective.”President Gordon B. Hinkley, ‘To Men of the Priesthood,’ Ensign, Nov 200?