Your family should store a variety of grains that fit your individual circumstances. Think of meals your family eats consistently, stock up on items that will help you complete those meals.
Something to consider...(comments from Vicki Tate in Cookin' with Home Storage)
"Most of us have been told to store four basic items for survival: wheat, milk, honey and salt." The statistics, however , show that approximately 85% of us will not be able to survive on just these basics. There are several serious problems associated with this type of diet:
- Many people are allergic to wheat. Most of them will not even be aware of this until they are trying to live on it meal after meal.
- Wheat is a very harsh food for young children. They can tolerate it in smaller amounts, but not as the basis of their diet.
- Too many of us store these foods thinking we will get them out and use them when circumstances dictate. Psychologically a high stress period is not the time to learn to cook with items. A stressful period is also not a good time for a family to adjust to a totally new diet, either psychologically or physically.
- Appetite fatigue develops when a person eats the same foods over and over again. Often a person suffering from appetite fatigue would rather not eat than sample that particular food again. Small children and older people are highly susceptible to this problem. "
These concerns can be easily remedied by simply storing a variety of foods...starting with grains.
The Church used to have a very specific food calculator on their website that told you exactly how much of this or that you should store. Although I like the freedom of controlling the "what" and the "how much" of my storage, it is nice to get a starting point by using their calculator. Like I said before, it is no longer on the Church's website but I was able to locate it on another website. Click HERE if you would like to check it out.
Next...if I could be allergic and not know it, why store wheat?
3 comments:
I came across this calculator the other day. Love it. I'm not good at just deciding what works for my family...this gives me a great starting place. And those are very interesting points from Vicki. I never really thought about the "appetite fatigue," but I think that would totally happen with my family.
What's the best way to store pasta? Is it safe in the boxes that I bought it in?
Suzanne, the best way to store pasta is to dry pack it. It increases the shelf life from 2-3 years in its original packaging to 8-10 years. Some pasta is challenging to pack in a can...lasagna, spaghetti(without breaking it up), etc. so you can either keep that in its orginal container or pack it in a mylar bag which is another dry pack option.
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