Why do you have two food storage calculators?

In BabyStep 3 we have a 3 month supply spreadsheet which allows you to enter in specific meals/snack items to get an exact amount of food to store for exactly 3 months worth of meals that your family normally eats. This is a great way to get started if you are worried about starting to build a food storage full of weird things like wheat, dried beans, and powdered milk that your family never eats.

In BabyStep 4 we have a long term food storage calculator which allows you to just put in the number of people in your family and it automatically fills in the spreadsheet with the recommended amounts to store for whatever period of time you selected (i.e. a one year supply). These are the more traditional food storage items which are considered “life-sustaining” but you don’t necessarily plan specific meals around.

How did you come up with the numbers for the long term food storage calculator?

There are basically two schools of thought on long term food storage. One recommends a 2300 calorie diet with 300 lbs of grains and 75 lbs of powdered milk (this was the original recommendation given to members of the LDS church back in 1978). A more recent recommendation has been to increase the calories to 2400, raise the grains to 400 lbs, and lower powdered milk to just 16 lbs (this is based off of a research study done in 1979).

Either way you go will provide enough nutrition for you to sustain life. However, for families with nursing mothers or small children it is important to use the higher recommendation for milk in order to provide adequate nutrition. If you only store 16 lbs that is only enough for one cup of milk per day. Another reason we use the higher milk recommendation by default is because if you were unable to find ways to cook your food, you can actually sustain life by ONLY drinking powdered milk for quite some time. So all you would need is to add water and you could survive. (For more details on this topic click here.)

How do I add additional items to the calculator?

If you are wanting to track non-food items, make sure to look at our 3 month supply calculator as there is a tab at the bottom that has a place for you to input those items. If you want to track things like fruits/vegetables and canned meats in detail, you can either add them in as items in your 3 month supply worksheet, or go with a more comprehensive solution (see below).

Do you have any recommendations for healthier food options?

YES! Check out our Healthy Food Storage page for a great calculator suggestion that you can add in to your own spreadsheet.

Can’t you make it EASIER???

While we have put together instructional videos to help make it easy, we understand that there are some limitations with using excel calculators. Shelf Reliance has an AWESOME free food storage calculator tool that is web-based (easy to use, very comprehensive and you don’t need excel). You can actually set up an entire plan and then purchase it all at whatever monthly budget you choose (they call this the “Q”). Or you also can just purchase everything all at once if you are feeling anxious about getting your supply and you can afford it. If you don’t want to purchase their Thrive Foods you can simply calculate what you need, and email yourself a report to print off.

The reason we think this calculator is so cool is because there are SOOO many ways to customize it. You put in your family with their ages, you input the number of calories per day you want, and you can select exactly what types of foods you want to include. There are some general recommendations that it will give you with a wide variety of Thrive foods listed, but then you can tweak it and subtract or add whatever you want to give you the report you are looking for.

We wanted to give our readers a little incentive to try out the Thrive Calculator and monthly Q program so we put together a fun little bonus in June, but we will extend it into July since we are posting about it so late in the month. Click here to find out the details and learn more about Shelf Reliance’s monthly Q program. (Make sure to scroll down to the bottom of the post to find out about the free gift!) Don’t forget if you order through our Shelf Reliance links you get discounts off of retail prices.

Ingredients:
1 can great northern beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 1/4 c. chicken or vegetable broth
1 c. favorite salsa or a can of Mexican stewed tomatoes
3 TBSP chocolate syrup
1 TBSP southwest seasoning
1 TBSP chili powder

Directions:
Rinse and drain beans. Combine all ingredients in a slow-cooker. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Special Notes:
The great thing about this chili is it has enough flavor to skip all the refrigerated toppings like cheese and sour cream.

If you have ever clicked on our Links Page you may have noticed it was sort of pathetic. We always had big dreams of making it into a very useful, one-stop-shop for all your food storage and emergency preparedness needs. However, it was always one of those projects that got pushed to the wayside for other more pressing projects. Well this weekend we finally snapped and decided to make the page into what we always wanted it to be. We hope you find it helpful in your search for food storage information.

We personally visited every site/blog, wrote the descriptions, and gave them our stamp of approval. We tried to limit the list to sites that are still being updated on a regular basis, and sites that are in line with our own philosophies on food storage and emergency preparedness.

Anyways, I was on a mission to tidy my lazy susan. This is how I did it:

1. I took an inventory of all the grains and legumes I use regularly

2. I determined if I used them in big, medium, or small quantities

3. I went around to a bunch of different stores looking at containers and prices

4. I settled in on some containers from walmart that would fit my needs

5. I emptied the plastic bags and cardboard boxes into my cute new CLEAR containers

6. I used larger cereal dispenser containers for brown rice, and wheat since those are the two grains I use most often

7. I taped the nutrition label from the bags to the bottom of the containers for future reference

If you need a place for containers but don’t want to drive around to 4 or 5 different stores like I did, amazon is a great place. Check out this set of containers, they come in all different sizes so you can store different amounts of different products.

Anyways, here is the finished product – having a good amount of each food in my pantry makes cooking much more pleasant. This way I’m only required to refill every so often down in the basement bulk containers…

Oh and as a side note, if you didn’t go look at my resolutions, I did number 3 a couple weeks ago! I’m right on track! In the words of Tracy in SC (our biggest fan) GO ME!

This is a very simple yet handy food storage calculator to help you easily determine how much food you need to store, and keep track of how your Long Term Food Storage is coming along. Download it today and enjoy! Remember to read our post from last week on Long Term Food Storage Lies Debunked to help you avoid getting overwhelmed as you start on your Long Term Food Storage!

So here it is (the food storage calculator is based on a ONE YEAR supply):

Food Storage Calculator

Please note for the Cost/Unit column (column H) you need to put the cost/unit, meaning cost per pound, or cost per qt whatever that may be – in that cell. Everyone will have different prices so that is a user entered cell. If you want to do the math right in excel, the special formula is =cost/unit. So if you paid $11 for 50 lbs of wheat, you put =11/50.

If you don’t have excel you can print out our pdf worksheet (instructions included) and fill it out by hand.

Hope you enjoy

As we began to think about building our LONG TERM food storage we started to come across some ideas that kept holding us back from really becoming serious about it. As we’ve been researching for our blog, and actually building our own storage, we discovered that a lot of things were not true for US. We’ve summarized them here into seven food storage lies that we have debunked.

Don’t be afraid to replace certain foods with foods you use more often. For example, the typical calculator may tell you to store way more, or less, of a certain ingredient then you would ever use. For example, Jodi likes to use her grain mill to grind corn for cornbread, so she’s not taking the cornmeal recommendation literally and is storing corn kernels instead.

We often hear people think they must cook meals with only shelf-stable ingredients. While these recipes can be useful and are good to know about in case of a severe emergency situation, they are NOT the be all/end all of food storage. The idea is that you will be learning to cook with your food storage and constantly rotating it. It’s okay to mix and match “food storage” items with “non-food storage” items.

TOTAL LIE! See our small spaces storage solutions post for ideas on how to start no matter how tiny you think your house might be.

NOT! Let’s be honest, unless you have tons of cash lying around, this isn’t going to happen. Start small. Commit yourself to buying food, little by little. Decide you will gather small amounts of a variety of long term food storage items. Once you discover which items you use most often, re-adjust and keep on buying when you can.

FALSE. Crystal at Everydayfoodstorage.NET shows you how you can use your food storage in EVERYDAY ways. She is great at teaching you to take the meals your family typically eats and incorporating food storage into them.

This is a lie that Julie thought was true until she really got into using food storage. She has always tried to cook with really “healthy” types of ingredients, and didn’t know how to incorporate long term food storage items into her typical meals. She learned that everyday food storage, means using your food storage in meals YOU would typically make. It’s surprising how you can adapt and start using your food storage even if you don’t cook the standard meals “everyone” else seems to be making. Stay tuned for some of Julie’s “health-conscious” discoveries that have had her dreaming about legumes.

While this is the reason a lot of people think you should get into food storage, it is one of the very last reasons why we LOVE having food storage. We have found that we use food storage for health reasons, self-reliance reasons, to weather against economic storms, and so much more. While it’s good to eventually make plans for how to survive without things like gas and electricity, there is no need to let that get in the way of you starting to use and rotate through your food storage TODAY!

Cowboy Delight – Mexican Casserole

Ingredients:
1 family size package Kraft macaroni and cheese
(I used 3 C macaroni, 1/2 C powdered cheese, 6 tsp butter, 6 tsp of powdered milk)
½ lb. lean hamburger (or turkey), browned (can use canned beef)
½ onion, chopped (can use dehydrated onion flakes)
1 can chili with beans
1 can tomato soup
1 T. chili powder
1 can corn
cheddar cheese, cubed (optional)
fritos (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350º. Cook kraft dinner according to directions in large pot. Meanwhile, brown hamburger with onion. Add to kraft dinner with remaining ingredients. Heat through. Pour into casserole dish and top with fritos. Cover and bake 30 minutes

My husband actually said he thought the noodles done this way was a little yummier. I also didn’t have a can of chili with beans- so I just put in a can of red beans and chili seasoning instead. It worked out just fine. Oh and also, the butter in the macaroni and cheese can be substituted with 1/4 C of butter powder – I just skip the butter altogether, but once I gave Jodi mac and cheese without butter and she spit it out- so in case you wanted to know- you can use powdered butter in mac and cheese too. This meal could also be made without meat and cheese for a “completely” shelf stable ingredients meal.

• Do you have questions about your food storage?
• Want to chat with other people who are working on their food storage?
• Are you an expert who likes helping others with food storage questions?
• Do you always forget to check back for your answer in the comments section?

We have a solution — a Food Storage Forum!!!

Ok it’s not exactly a forum but our facebook fan page is such a great place to interact with us and with other readers. You can post questions on the wall, or visit the discussions tab for more detailed conversations. We share our day to day experiences with our food storage and encourage readers/fans to do the same. You can even upload your own pictures to the page! Sometimes we also offer facebook-only giveaways or sales so it’s definitely a good idea to be a “fan”. Check it out below and click “like” to join up, we’d love to get to know you better.

At Food Storage Made Easy, we asked our readers to come together and share their ideas for storing food in small spaces. The results were incredible! Continue reading for all the ideas we received. As promised, we created a way cute PDF for you to share with all your friends. To get the handout, click here!

We broke the house up into several different areas and will be covering each one individually. Some of these ideas will be perfect for your situation whether or not you have space. Thanks again to ALL our contributors, you’re AWESOME!

Store cans on their sides under a twin bed. Line them up in rows of their category (fruit, veggies, tuna etc…). When you purchase cans place under the left side of the bed. When you need a can for meal preparation pull it from the right side. You have a cheap rotating storage right under your kids beds!
-Shaela

My husband and I decided to convert one of the bedrooms into our food storage room. We took the smallest of the three, bought heavy duty shelves from Costco and ordered a Shelf Reliance storage system for our canned goods. The closet in our food storage room holds our wheat, powdered milk, and bottled water. We also raised our bed up, and have rolling totes underneath for additional storage.
-Samantha

You can get wide, shallow plastic bins at most department stores that have wheels on them for rollong under your bed. These are great for storing cans of food since they are about as deep as a can. You can easily pull them out for food rotation purposes as well.
-Amanda

Don’t forget all the wonderful storage underneath your beds! You could house cases of canned goods or extra paper goods – anything really! Lots of space, you just have to remember what is under there and keep rotating if it is anything perishable.
-Julie

Also, the boxes fit perfectly under my children’s beds. That not only gives me extra storage space, but it prevents the build-up of toys and clothes and candy wrappers that otherwise get stuffed under the beds.
-Marilee

I have wheat boxes behind my bed headboard against the wall, in a layer under my daughter’s mattress (she doesn’t have a frame or boxspring), and under the TV (that layer is covered with a blanket). We hardly notice they’re around. I also have water stored under my bed (I used to store it under the couch – that’s a great place to store extra diapers, too).
-America

Buy some of the heavy duty Velcro from any store. The stuff that’s about two to three inches across. Put one side on the back of a pantry, or cabinet, then attach pieces of the other side to your spices. Easy spice rack on the back of the door for almost nothing. Works even with the really big Costco spice jars. We have a couple rows of this, keeping the spices organized, and easy to use.
-Jayce

Inside the door of our pantry and the converted coat closet hang a pantry door shelf that hooks over the top of the door. The one in the pantry holds my 50 or more spices. The second row from the bottom holds my nonstick sprays and Crisco. The bottom shelf holds all my pancake syrups. And big bag of Krusteez.
- Maggie

Under our kitchen sink it was just our trash and a mess of plastic bags. To get that organized he took all the plastic grocery bags. We kept our small stash of dishwasher soap on the side and near it we kept our small garbage can. Then with all the left over space under there… after cleaning the space really well, my husband put our case of Tomato Soup, Spaghettios, and Progresso soups. These are cases that we do not need access to for awhile
-Maggie’s Husband

If your kitchen has a breakfast bar that is too tall for eating (approx. 46 inches) then find someone (husband, a family friend, or pay someone) to custom make shallow cupboards underneath the counter. If they are made with a wood to match your kitchen cabinets then it should be a nice useful addition to your kitchen. We are in the process of doing this.
-Maggie

I use Turn Table Spice Racks, to keep my spaces organized and easy to rotate. It ends up taking less space because I can pile spices all the way to the back but still have access to them. I also put my baking goods in plastic bins so I can easily take out all my ingredients at once when I bake, again it keeps things in packed away in tighter spaces and makes cooking more fun.
-Crystal

We put short bookshelves in our son’s closet and used them for food storage. Since his clothes were small they fit great over the top of the shelves. We also stacked boxes of #10 cans in the ends of the closets. Just make sure the boxes are labeled with what’s in them and put the things you will need to get into most often on the top or it can be a real pain to find things.
-Ellie

Create false bottoms in your closets! Clear everything out of the bottom of your chosen closet. Fill that space with either #10 cans or a couple of cases of canned goods. Cut a piece of plywood (or have it cut for you!) to size and place on top of the cans. Now, use your closet as you normally would!
-Danielle

We converted our coat closet to a little storage room (we kept the coats in our regular closet). We used boards and #10 cans to “build” shelves and it was amazing how much stuff we were able to put in there.
-Gwen and Melissa

After struggling to find places for our storage, I got the idea to convert our coat closet into a pantry. The closet wasn’t in our kitchen but had lots of space that wasn’t being utilized. Our coats and other items were moved to our bedroom closets. My husband added several shelves and removed the bar
-Denise

I also repurposed a canvas sweater holder that hung in the closet for boxes of pasta, cereal and crackers in my front ‘coat’ closet – those that didn’t fit in the tiny kitchen cupboards. I converted the broom closet into a kitchen pantry (it was about 15 inches deep) with some shelf brackets and wood cut at home depot.
-CTD

We converted our coat closet into another food pantry. Since this closet is not directly in the kitchen and it is carpeted we store our #10 cans, case lot sales items, and items purchased in bulk that we have a lot of. I stock my main pantry from this converted coat closet. Also the coat closet had a built in shelf above the rod so that shelf is used for unopened boxes of food like our case of 48 cans of Tuna and our 72 hours kits (grab and go kits near a door exiting the house).
-Maggie

I have a one year supply of fruit that I home canned. My mother had tons of milk crates from years ago, and we filled them up and now they are stacked high in my closest and under my hanging clothes. That’s where my fruit is. I have learned to put things in places that can be hidden so it doesn’t look like i have food all over my house, the kids closets are stacked high of boxes of # 10 cans
-Alisha

I live in a manufactured home (no basement) with a large master bathroom that has a corner “garden” tub. The side access panels are held on with velcro. I store my laundry supplies in the dead space under the tub.
-Mary Lou

What I’m planning on doing is curtaining off two feet or so along one wall of the dining room (Ikea has curtain rails you can mount on the ceiling) and putting all my food storage on shelves behind it.
-Cathie

In one house (we were owners so we could cut into the wall) there was a space under the stairwell and we cut an opening in there and put a door so we could store things there. It was quite small, but functional. We’ve always looked around at wherever we were living for available space.
-Gwen

The laundry/utility room often has extra space above the washer and dryer that can be used. Even if you don’t want to put food there, it works for storing toilet paper, dish soap, shampoos, etc.
-Gwen

We took sheets of 2 inch blueboard and made a 4×10 food storage room at the end of our very small living room. Made a door out of duct tape/blueboard.
-Janet

You can put organizers under your sink that are adjustable and can fit around all the pipes. It’s a great way to have shelves under that awkward space. I also put racks directly on the cupboards to hold different kinds of plastic wrap, aluminum foil etc.
-Crystal

Sofa Youtube:
This is an amazing idea that we received multiple times, it’s about creating a shelving system that acts as a table behind a sofa. It’s so neat!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCnXfO7YMfk
-Ruth, Mary Lou, Linda

These are things my mom did, she put wheat in buckets, using one on both sides she would put a piece of cut plywood across it and make a shelf. We got to put contact paper of our choice on the wood and the bucket to decorate or rooms with and she would stack them 2 high. They make great book shelves. Now they have such great things to decorate, you could go wild with it, maybe faux painting some to look like marble pillars? You could even use the shelves to put other food stuffs on and put a curtain or sheet in front to make a make-shift “cupboard”.
-Lorie

I sewed a liner for a big basket I had (like a big bag). Then I was able to put extra oatmeal boxes, crackers etc in it. I put a round table top (the kind you screw legs on) on it and used it as an end table. The bag liner hid the contents….When I moved to a bigger 1 bedroom apartment that same basket was used to store all the extra laundry detergent and dryer sheets I would stock up on at sales, soap and shampoo too – since I didn’t have a linen closet.
-CTD

Knowing we needed space to store food and some casual seating, we made 18″ cubes with hinged lids. Added casters on the bottom, padded seating on top. Inside it held about 4 cases worth of canned veggies, soup, etc. We made 3 of these boxes, then made a table to store them under. On the table we used decorative items: a nice looking binder for our storage records, a pretty box that held recipes for our storage foods, another box held cards with helpful hints. A lamp and a phone rounded out the decoration s.
-Lou

The food storage boxes from the church canneries (the kind that hold six #10 cans each) fit very nicely between the wall and my couches. Every piece of furniture in my living room and family room has food storage boxes behind it. I stack them about 3 boxes tall, and then extend them as long as the couch. It leaves just the perfect amount of space between the wall and the furniture — nobody would guess there was anything back there. Those boxes also can be stacked to form a table — my telephone sits on one such table. It’s just boxes with a cloth over them.
-Marilee

One year when we lived in an apartment my in-laws gave us a big wicker chest for Christmas. We put it in our living room and filled it with cans. We were amazed at how many cans could fit in it. We had a futon in our living room and we hid soda bottles filled with water behind the futon.
-Ellie

We also did the plywood table top thing, except we used two buckets of wheat for each table–they were beautiful and no one would have guessed what was under them!
-Gwen

I bought 2 book shelves at a garage sale – asking price $40 each, bought both for $25. They have been a great addition for storage! I have the shelves stored in my office, but when you look down the hall from our main living area you don’t see them.
-Marilyn’s daughter

I like the slender boxes that 3 – 1 gal water comes in for regular cans-the can fit nicely laying sideways (2 rows)- the box is slender to put in room and has the concept of the rotating method for the higher priced shelves
-Linda

Here’s an old post from my personal site of some roller shelving I made earlier this year, designed to fit behind standard shelving. Still works amazingly well. http://www.jaycehall.com/2008/03/08/weekend-storage-project/
-Jayce

I use one place for one food group. Like canned meats, chili, and soup for under the bed, canned veggies on top of cupboards, and fruits under end tables with fabric draped over it. Also if your filling cabinet isn’t full, fill it up with boxed items, or put food in a crawl space or attic well sealed. Keep a detailed inventory handy so you don’t forget how much & what you have (for me it’s outta’ sight, outta’ mind). Post your list on the inside of a cupboard so it’s tucked away. Also, tape a pen or pencil on a string, or velcro (my favorite) a pen next to it. That way, when you’re in a hurry, you can mark it instead of trying to remember what you took later.
-Nicole

We have used the top space in closets, a drawer in a bench, under beds (even propped the beds up on blocks so the food would fit underneath), lined every closet with food and/or water. Pull a dresser or couch away from the wall a couple of feet and you can fit lots of cans or buckets behind it where they won’t be seen too easily. We put food in the mylar pouches in the rolly boxes that go under beds and in giant 55 gal metal drums in the carport (the drums sealed so the insects/rodents/critters weren’t able to get to our food. Make a table with a board on top of a couple of cases of canned goods and cover it with a cloth. I’ve stacked 2 liter pop bottles of water horizontally between my filing cabinet and the wall. I’m also okay with the fact that my house doesn’t look professionally decorated—it’s disguise the food décor!
-Angela

Store some tins, pasta, rice and other non perishable food items that you use on a monthly basis, in a box/plastic crate (check expiry date is at least 12 months away)…..fill the box to the top and mark it “January 2009”. Store the box – be creative – you could even make it into a footstool, covered with some fabric and leave it next to your couch. (I moved my couch out a bit and stored the boxes behind it.) Do the same in February and March…..now you have three boxes – why not make them into bedside cabinet with that pretty fabric? J In the new quarter, empty the January 2009 box into your kitchen cupboards and refill the box with new purchases and mark it April 2009……you have just built up a good supply of basic food for 3 months and more importantly – rotated it……Keep going with the new purchases and rotation….until you build it up to 6 months and then 12 months.
-Cathy

For those of you who have been to the Fun with Food Storage Party all week, you may already have received the party favor – Our Emergency Preparedness Plan Workbook. We made it in excel because that way you can customize and alter the sheets to fit your families needs. For those of you who don’t have excel or “hate” excel, -while Julie (the excel nerd) will never understand HOW that is possible… we have turned all the sheets in the spreadsheet into PDF’S. Your welcome! Thanks to a great comment we received on our Emergency Binder post last week, we added a sheet to the workbook for you to record what you would grab in case of evacuations (pictures, albums, laptop) in order of importance. This is new today so if you have already downloaded the file, make sure you get the new version and print out that page.

Make sure you have everything printed and ready to go because your first BabyStep Checklist is coming next week! And you better believe we’re starting with Emergency Prep.