One Year's Food For A Family Of Four
This
plan is THE fastest, cheapest and easiest way to start a food storage program.
You are done in a weekend. AND there are no hassles with rotating. Pack it and
forget. It’s space efficient – everything is consolidated into a few 5-gallon
buckets. You’ll sleep content in knowing that you have a one-year food supply
on hand for your family should you ever need it.
With
the exception of dairy and Vitamin B12, this bean soup recipe will fulfill all your
basic nutritional needs. It won’t fill all of your wants, but using this as
your starting point, you can add the stuff that you want. The is the baseline. It's not a varied diet that will satisfy cravings and such.
All
of the food and storing supplies listed below plus 2 55-gallon recycled barrels
to be used for rain catchment cost me $296, including taxes. I purchased rice,
bouillon and salt from SAM’s Club. You can buy small bags of barley at the
grocery, but if you don’t mind waiting a few days, special ordering a bulk bag
from Whole Foods was cheaper. All of the beans I purchased from Kroger’s in
1-lb bags. Buckets, lids, Mylar bags and rain barrels were from the Lexington
Container Company.
If you do some research, you'll be able to find many (if not all) of these items locally.
What you need:
☐8 5-gallon buckets
☐8 large Mylar bags
☐8 2,000 cc oxygen
absorbers
☐8 gamma lids
☐A handful of bay leaves
☐90 lbs. of white rice
☐22 lbs. of kidney beans
☐22 lbs. of barley
☐22 lbs. of yellow
lentils
☐5.5 lbs. of split green
peas
☐5.5 lbs. of garbanzo
beans
☐1 lb. of salt
☐A big box of beef and
chicken bouillon.
☐A measuring cup
What you’ll do
Install
the gamma lids on the bucket and insert Mylar bags. Place 2 or 3 bay leaves in
the bottom and fill the buckets, adding more bay leaves after each 1/3 to full.
Place an oxygen absorber in the top. Label buckets with the contents and date.
Fill
3
buckets with rice (shake it down good. Get it all in there!)
1
bucket each of kidney beans, barley, and yellow lentils
In
1 bucket store the split green peas, garbanzo beans, salt, measuring cup and
bouillon. (I removed the bouillon from the box and vacuum sealed it as bouillon
contains a small amount of oil.)
Yep,
that’s a total of 7 buckets, so far.
I
place a broom handle across the bucket and wrap the ends of the Mylar bag over
the broom handle to give me some support. Then slowly and smoothly run a hot
iron over the Mylar bag to seal all except the last 2 inches. Then I press out
as much air as possible before sealing the remaining 2 inches. Make sure your
Mylar is completely sealed from end to end. Now, stuff the bag into the bucket
and rotate the gamma lid into place. This will protect your food for about 25
years. You’ll have excess Mylar bag at the top. Don’t cut it off, that way if
you have to cut it open to get into it, you have enough bag remaining to
reseal.
Where you’ll put it
It’s
pretty easy to find a place for 7 to 8 5-gallon buckets even in the smallest of
apartments. Discard the box springs and lay the kid’s mattress on top of the
buckets, line the back of a large closet with the buckets. I made a couch-table
by stacking buckets two high between the couch and the wall. The buckets are
about 6” taller than the back of the couch. Add a shelf and drape and it looks
fine; a convenient place for a lamp and books. Get creative.
(food bucket bed frame)
Making your bean soup
Measure
out
·
8 oz of rice
·
2 oz of red kidney beans
·
2 oz of pearl barley
·
2 oz of lintels
·
1 oz of split green peas
·
1 oz of chick peas/garbanzo’s
Add
6-7 quarts of water. Add bouillon or salt to taste. Then add any other meats,
vegetables, potatoes or seasonings you have on hand. Bring to a boil and then
let simmer for two hours. You should have enough to feed 4 people for two days.
This is thick and hearty. You will be warm on the inside and full with one
large bowl. Kids usually eat half a bowl.
When the emergency is over
This
system allows you to open the Mylar bags, retrieve as much of the ingredients
as is needed and then reseal everything after the emergency has passed. Just be
sure to replace the ingredients used so that you always have a one-year supply.
The 8th bucket – other stuff I would want
This
list isn’t included in the $300. This falls into the “what I want” category. As
money and resources became available, I’d just go crazy adding all of my
indulgences, starting with coffee! You can add what you want, but I’d fill it
with:
☐Dry onion. Let’s face
it, what’s bean soup without onion! Sprinkle on the onions just before serving.
☐“Just add water”
cornbread mix packets. I just can’t eat bean soup without cornbread.
☐Beef jerky and Vienna
sausages. Add protein and zest to the bean soup
☐Instant oatmeal. Do you
really want bean soup for breakfast? Freeze the oatmeal for 3 days before
packing to kill any bugs.
☐10 lbs of jellybeans.
Now, don’t laugh – it’s a bean. Jellybeans don’t melt like chocolate might. The
high sugar content is quick energy, and a morale booster – with just enough of
a high to help you over the really bad days. Easter is about here – stock up!
Before you fill the 8th bucket
Buy
small bags of the ingredients and fix a big pot of bean soup for dinner. Eat
the leftovers the second night, and 3rd night, until it’s all gone. Find out
now – rather than later – what your family might like to add to it. Anything
tastes great the first meal, but quickly becomes boring after the 3rd or 4th
repeat. Don’t wait until the emergency happens to discover what you SHOULD have
stored in your 8th bucket. … Maybe some Beano!
