If you are stocking up on food for a shelter or just in general one of the best foods to have on hand are dried beans and pulses. Of course you also need a clean water source to soak and cook the dried beans in as well. This is a cheap way to stock the shelves of a shelter too because you can get a pound of beans, or pulses (like lentils) for less than a dollar bag in most places. This means that you can fill up tubs and tubs with this healthy and filling food and stay alive for a long time.
There is a reason hat beans were once called “poor man’s meat”. They are so nutritious you can live on just beans a lone for a very long time. They are also delicious when mixed with spices.
Beans, contain all the essential amino acids but one (methionine) . . . which just happens to be the amino acid that corn does have. Once you mix dried beans with dried corn you have a complete protein. In fact if you want a mixture that is equal to the nutrition of one glass of milk then you should eat two parts corn and one part bands. A bit of wheat germ adds omega acids that are essential for the assimilation of protein as well.
Both dried beans and corn can be kept for a very long time with no loss flavor or nutrition which is why they are great survivalist foods. The reason these foods are dried is because bulk that weights 100 pounds can be reduced to ten pounds. Beans and corn can also be dried in the most primitive ways. The beans can be spread out over a fire in a pan or dried in the sun. Beans and corn are completely dried when they no longer stick to each other or to your hands.
Before corn is dried it is blanched first by plunging it into boiling water for a few moments. This helps preserve the taste and keeps it drier for longer.
Many survivalists store their dried corn and beans in clean wax milk cartons. This is a good way to recycle and the wax coating helps keep the goods free from food moths and bugs.
You can also make different soup and meal mixes by combining different types of beans, pulses and rice together and storing them.