Preparing Your Pantry for An Emergency

Natural disasters are uqite common now. All over the world humans are dealing with floods, hurricanes and a lack of power. Serious ice storms and terrorist attacks have been known to isolate people in their homes for days.

The good news is that even without a stove or refrigeration you can still make nutritious foods for your family. Canning methods have improved in the last few years and goods last longer, are more nutritious and do not contain as much salt or chemicals.

Aside from having a certain pantry basics on hand you should also have salt, which is a nutritional necessity. Olive oil and mayonnaise, flours and baking mixes will also last about a year as long as they are stored in glass jars.

If you want a sweetener that is bacteria resistant and practically lasts forever keep some honey on hand.  You may be craving dairy products but if you have no refrigerator then the best you can do is processed cheese food and grated Romano and Parmesan cheese. These grated cheeses can last quite a while without refrigeration.

Staples that last are pastas, rice and dried legumes and beans. You can make curries and vegetable dishes that are full protein meals for ages. It is also nice to have spices on hand as well as dry soup bases, gravy mixes, canned vegetable juices and canned meats and seafoods.

It may become necessary to make your own bread over a fire, even if it is just flat bread. It is a good idea to have yeast, baking powder and baking soda on hand. Bread crumbs keep a while and can be used to thicken bread as well as soups and stews.

In terms of dried and can beans consider investing in balk beans, red kidney, great northern, lentils, split pea, black beans and pintos.  A cheap source of protein that lasts for ages is peanut butter in jar. Others sources are canned fish and meats of all kinds.

Cereals also have a very long shelf life whether they be the commercial kind or the grains that you cook. If you need milk you can always create it with powdered milk mix. You can also make an omelette if you keep powdered eggs on hand.

Coffee, preferably instant, is also a good beverage to have in hand as is green tea and black tea.  These are hearty refreshing beverages that are stimulants and can keep people going in an emergency.

As you can see there is no need to go hungry in a national emergency as long as you can keep your food stuffs dry and uncontaminated.